title: The role of serum D-dimer level in the diagnosis of patients admitted to the emergency department complaining of chest pain.
abstract: This study investigated D-dimer levels in 241 patients admitted to the emergency department with sudden-onset chest pain. The patient group included those diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS; i.e., unstable angina pectoris [USAP], non-ST elevated myocardial infarction [NSTEMI], ST-elevated myocardial infarction [STEMI]); the control group included those diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain. Mean serum levels of D-dimer, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and troponin I (TPI) were compared between the groups. Levels of D-dimer, CK-MB and TPI in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group. There were also significantly higher D-dimer, CK-MB and TPI levels in the STEMI and NSTEMI patient subgroups compared with the control group. Only the D-dimer level was significantly higher in the USAP subgroup versus the control group. The sensitivity and specificity of D-dimer for ACS were 83.7% and 95.4%, respectively, suggesting that evaluating D-dimer levels might be useful in the emergency room for diagnosing ACS and predicting mortality in patients presenting with acute chest pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Dicle, Diyarbakir, Turkey. drm.orak@dicle.edu.tr
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orak
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ustündağ
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Güloğlu
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alyan
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Sayhan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D052279:Creatine Kinase, MB Form / Q000097:blood; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; D019210:Troponin I; C036309:fibrin fragment D; D052279:Creatine Kinase, MB Form