Scientific Reports (Jul 2017)

Age-related diagnostic value of D-dimer testing and the role of inflammation in patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis

  • Jürgen H. Prochaska,
  • Bernd Frank,
  • Markus Nagler,
  • Heidrun Lamparter,
  • Gerhard Weißer,
  • Andreas Schulz,
  • Lisa Eggebrecht,
  • Sebastian Göbel,
  • Natalie Arnold,
  • Marina Panova-Noeva,
  • Iris Hermanns,
  • Antonio Pinto,
  • Stavros Konstantinides,
  • Hugo ten Cate,
  • Karl J Lackner,
  • Thomas Münzel,
  • Christine Espinola-Klein,
  • Philipp S. Wild

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04843-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Previous reports have investigated the impact of age on D-Dimer testing in elderly individuals with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT), but data on the age-related diagnostic value of D-dimer in a sample covering a broad age range are limited. The present study determined age-specifically the diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer and compared it to C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, in 500 patients with suspected DVT from the VTEval project (NCT02156401). Sensitivity of D-dimer was lower in patients 0.05). In conclusion, these data outline a clinically-relevant limitation of D-dimer testing among younger patients with suspected DVT indicating a necessity for age-adapted cut-off values. Further research is required to decrypt the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology and diagnosis of venous thrombosis.