Key result
Among pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism, mean D-dimer levels significantly increased with gestational age in those without PE (P=0.0001) but not in those with confirmed PE (P=0.41).
Why the study?
Pulmonary thromboembolism is about 10 times more common in pregnant women than nonpregnant women, prompting an evaluation of D-dimer plasma concentrations in pregnant women with or without pulmonary thromboembolism.
Does D-dimer plasma concentration correlate with gestational age in pregnant women with or without pulmonary thromboembolism?
Cross-Sectional (n=100)
No
Does D-dimer plasma concentration correlate with gestational age in pregnant women with or without pulmonary thromboembolism?
Repeated D-dimer measurements during pregnancy have limited clinical utility for evaluating thromboembolism due to natural variations with gestational age in women without pulmonary embolism.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
D-dimer trends differ by PE status in pregnancy; leaves open whether gestation-specific thresholds improve diagnosis.
Introduction and Objectives: Pulmonary thromboembolism is the third most common vascular disease after coronary heart disease and stroke and is approximately 10 times more common in pregnant women compared with the nonpregnant population at the same age. The purpose of the current work is to evaluate D-dimer plasma concentration in pregnant women with or without pulmonary thromboembolism. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study in which 100 pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahwaz in 1398 were studied. After imaging and approving or rejecting a pulmonary embolism, simultaneously the D-dimer sample was taken from them; then the dimer level in each trimester was compared in positive or negative cases of pulmonary embolism. The SPSS software version 22 was used for data analysis. Results: The results showed that 12 patients in the study population had pulmonary embolism and 88 patients did not have pulmonary embolism. According to the results of patients with pulmonary embolism based on CT angiography results, there was no significant relationship with increasing gestational age and mean dimer level ( P = 0.41). But there was a significant relationship between gestational age and mean dimer level in the group with no pulmonary embolism ( P = 0.0001). There was no significant relationship between maternal age and mean dimer level in patients with pulmonary embolism ( P = 0.376) and without pulmonary embolism ( P = 0.1). Also, there was no significant relationship between the number of pregnancies in both groups with and without pulmonary embolism ( P = 0456, P = 0.392). Conclusion: Concomitant use of D-dimer and Wells' criteria can help us to diagnose or rule out pulmonary thromboembolism and minimize the risk of pregnant women being exposed to X-rays; given the biodiversity of the D-dimer of every woman during a natural pregnancy, repeated D-dimer measurements in the evaluation of thromboembolic pregnancy during pregnancy have no clinical application.
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A 2020 study conducted a cross-sectional in Suspected pulmonary embolism in pregnancy (n=100). Pulmonary embolism vs. No pulmonary embolism was evaluated on Relationship between gestational age and mean D-dimer level (p=0.41). Among pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism, mean D-dimer levels significantly increased with gestational age in those without PE (P=0.0001) but not in those with confirmed PE (P=0.41).
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