2006-12-11 00:26:42 · 3 answers · asked by curious 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
D-Dimer is a blood test to rule out 'clots' such as deep vein thrombosis(clot in the leg) and pulmonary embolism(blood clot in the lungs). It is not a definitive test but if its positive, it is suggestive of an abnormal blood clot and would require further investigations such as a scan.
2006-12-11 00:39:30 · answer #1 · answered by arwa 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
D-dimer is a degredation produced during thrombolysis (the breakdown of a blood clot). This process is continually occurring in all of us...but on a small scale unless there is a major clot somewhere. We can measure the level of d-dimer in the lab. It is elevated in some other conditions (for example if your kidney function is reduced it will be elevated because of decreased excretion).
Your doctor must calculate the pre-test probability of you having a blood clot before he can interpret the test result. There are several clinical scoring guides for doing this. If you have a low pre-test probablility and a low d-dimer level, the probability of having a clinically significant clot is about 1% but not 0%. At this level the risk of doing the test to see if there is a clot is higher than the risk from any possible clot.
If the d-dimer is elevated (above 500 at our lab), then I order a CT angiogram to rule out Pulmonary embolism (clot in the lung) and or venous dopplers of the legs to look for DVT (deep venous thrombosis).
Remember...a positive d-dimer does not necessarily mean there is a blood clot...it means that you need to have more testing. A negative (<500) test means very unlikey you have a clot only if you have a low pre-test probability. If you have a high pre-test probability, your doctor wasted you money becasue (s)he should have just ordered the test (CT or doppler).
2006-12-11 04:13:37 · answer #2 · answered by er.doctor 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
D-dimer is a blood test performed in the medical laboratory to diagnose thrombosis. Since its introduction in the 1990s, it has become an important test performed in patients suspected of thrombotic disorders. While a negative result practically rules out thrombosis, a positive result can indicate thrombosis but also has other potential causes. Its main use, therefore, is to exclude thromboembolic disease where the probability is low.
2006-12-11 00:33:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A d-dimer test rules out or finds if the body has any blood clots.
2006-12-11 00:33:37 · answer #4 · answered by pinkcallalillie3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋