Normal Soluble Fibrin Levels Suggest a Low Probability of Pulmonary Embolism in Patients with Deep Vein Thrombosis

Figures

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  Figure 1.. Patients flow diagram of patients with DVT. 153 patients were diagnosed with DVT, and 20 patients following the exclusion criteria were excluded, resulting in 71 patients with PE were in the PE group and 62 patients without PE were in the no-PE group among a total of 133 patients analyzed. Patients who were already receiving anticoagulant therapy at the time of DVT diagnosis, including those on anticoagulants for reasons other than DVT—such as atrial fibrillation or a history of thromboembolic disease—were excluded from the study. Abbreviations: DVT, deep venous thrombosis; PE, pulmonary embolism; SF, soluble fibrin.

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  Figure 2.. The distribution of plasma D-dimer and SF levels in patients with DVT. (A) The distribution of D-dimer values in the no-PE and the PE groups. The vertical axis is represented as an exponential function graph. The median of D-dimer was 5.8 μg/mL in the no-PE group and 7.6 μg/mL in the PE group. The horizontal line in the figure represents the upper limit of the normal range (1.0 μg/mL) for D-dimer. With the exception of one case in the no-PE group, all patients exhibited elevated D-dimer levels above the normal range. * indicates P < .05. (B) The distribution of SF values in the no-PE group and the PE groups. The vertical axis is represented as an exponential function graph. The median of SF was 9.9 μg/mL in the no-PE group and 28.8 μg/mL in the PE group. The horizontal line in the figure represents the upper limit of the normal range (7.0 μg/mL) for SF. 26 of the 62 patients in the no-PE group had normal values, whereas only 5 of the 71 patients in the PE group demonstrated normal values. ** indicates P < .0001. Abbreviations: PE, pulmonary embolism; SF, soluble fibrin; PE group, DVT patients with concomitant PE; no-PE group, DVT patients without PE.