title: Diagnostic value of d-dimer in patients with a moderate pretest probability of deep venous thrombosis.
abstract: The negative predictive value (NPV) of d-dimer (DD) for the exclusion of venous thromboembolism is, overall, high and tends to increase as clinical pretest probability decreases. We have assessed the accuracy of a diagnostic protocol including clinical evaluation and DD in 134 outpatients presenting with a moderate pretest probability of proximal deep venous thrombosis (DVT). In these patients, a negative DD value safely excluded DVT (NPV 100%, 95% CI 85-100) In our experience, these results are equivalent to those found for low-pretest probability patients and therefore the same diagnostic strategy can be used for both risk groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Hospital General de Soria, Soria, Spain. caraguilar@excite.com
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Concepcion
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Del Rio
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vazquez
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D