October 1, 1990Blood Coagulation & Fibrinolysis
Plasma D-dimer in suspected pulmonary embolism
Why the study?
Does plasma D-dimer measurement with a cut-off of <500 micrograms/l accurately rule out suspected pulmonary embolism?
Population
67 patients with suspected pulmonary embolism
Comparison
Plasma D-dimer measurement with a cut-off of <… vs Pulmonary angiography and/or…
Design
Cohort
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
May support ruling out PE with D-dimer; leaves open prospective validation before practice change.
Structured PICO
Does plasma D-dimer measurement with a cut-off of <500 micrograms/l accurately rule out suspected pulmonary embolism?
P
Population
67 patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (21 consecutive patients submitted to pulmonary angiography, pooled with 46 previous patients submitted to ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy)
I
Intervention
Plasma D-dimer measurement (ELISA) with a cut-off of < 500 micrograms/l
C
Comparator
Pulmonary angiography and/or ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy (reference standards)
O
Outcome
Diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values) for ruling out pulmonary embolismsurrogate
A plasma D-dimer level <500 micrograms/l has a 100% negative predictive value, making it a highly valuable tool for ruling out suspected pulmonary embolism.
Cite This Study
Bounameaux et al. (1990) studied this question.