Category: D-dimer

What Is the D-Dimer Test?

Posted on | Posted on John Murphy | Leave a Comment on What Is the D-Dimer Test?

Authors: Richard N. Fogoros, MD The D-dimer test is a blood test that indicates whether blood clots are being actively formed somewhere within a person’s vascular system. This test is most often helpful in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolus and deep vein thrombosis, but it can also be useful in diagnosing other medical conditions in which blood clots play a […]

Never ignore extremely elevated D-dimer levels: they are specific for serious illness

Posted on | Posted on John Murphy | Leave a Comment on Never ignore extremely elevated D-dimer levels: they are specific for serious illness

Authors: T Schutte 1, A Thijs, Y M Smulders D-dimer is routinely measured as part of the clinical diagnosis algorithms for venous thromboembolism (VTE). In these algorithms, low D- dimer cut-off values are used to generate a dichotomous test result that is sensitive, but very non-specific for VTE. A consequence of any test dichotomisation is loss of information […]