title: Association between plasma levels of D-dimer and fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products (FDP) for exclusion of thromboembolic disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  D-dimer and fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products (FDP) levels are elevated in subjects with thromboembolic disorders, and the assays for detection of D-dimer and FDP are used in many laboratories for the investigation of these disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the plasma levels of D-dimer and FDP in the investigation of thromboembolic disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  D-dimer and FDP immunoassays were performed in 217 consecutive blood samples from subjects with suspected of thromboembolic disorders by use of Liatest D-dimer and Plasma FDP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FDP results were classified in: <5, 5-20, >20 microg/mL, and D-dimer levels obtained in these groups ranged to 350-1,210 ng/mL, 420-1,960 ng/mL, and 1,190-51,170 ng/mL, respectively. A significant association between D-dimer levels and the reaction times necessary to occur agglutination in latex agglutination test for FDP was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was an association between plasma levels of D-dimer and FDP. The preliminary determination of FDP levels could be useful because it allows estimating the D-dimer levels before of the automated systems analysis, reducing costs associated to dilutions of plasma samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael Noal
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Moresco
authors.forename: Ronald Halla
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Júnior
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cláudio Rosa Vargas
authors.forename: Lúcia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mariano da Rocha Silla
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D