Thrombosis Journal (Dec 2021)

D-dimer for risk stratification and antithrombotic treatment management in acute coronary syndrome patients: asystematic review and metanalysis

  • Flavio Giuseppe Biccirè,
  • Alessio Farcomeni,
  • Carlo Gaudio,
  • Pasquale Pignatelli,
  • Gaetano Tanzilli,
  • Daniele Pastori

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12959-021-00354-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Background Data on the prognostic role of D-dimer in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are controversial. Our aim was to summarize current evidence on the association between D-dimer levels and short/long-term poor prognosis of ACS patients. We also investigated the association between D-dimer and no-reflow phenomenon. Methods Systematic review and metanalysis of observational studies including ACS patients and reporting data on D-dimer levels. PubMed and SCOPUS databases were searched. Data were combined with hazard ratio (HR) and metanalysed. The principal endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular events (CVEs) including myocardial infarction, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results Overall, 32 studies included in the systematic review with 28,869 patients. Of them, 6 studies investigated in-hospital and 26 studies long-term outcomes. Overall, 23 studies showed positive association of high D-dimer levels with CVEs. D-dimer levels predicted poor prognosis in all studies reporting in-hospital outcomes. Five studies satisfied inclusion criteria and were included in the metanalysis, with a total of 8616 patients. Median follow-up was 13.2 months with 626 CVEs. The pooled HR for D-dimer levels and CVEs was 1.264 (95% CI 1.134–1.409). Five out of 7 studies (4195 STEMI patients) investigating the association between D-dimer levels and no-reflow showed a positive correlation of D-dimer levels with no-reflow. Conclusions In patients with ACS, D-dimer was associated with higher in-hospital and short/long-term complications. D-dimer was also higher in patients with no-reflow phenomenon. The use of D-dimer may help to identify patients with residual thrombotic risk after ACS. Trial registration The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews: CRD42021267233 .

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