title: Association between D-dimer level and portal venous system thrombosis in liver cirrhosis: a retrospective observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to explore the association between D-dimer levels and presence of portal venous system thrombosis (PVST) in liver cirrhosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  All consecutive patients with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis who underwent D-dimer test were retrospectively enrolled. Normal reference range of D-dimer level was 0-0.3 µg/mL. PVST was diagnosed on the basis of contrast-enhanced computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging scans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 66 included patients, 24 were diagnosed with PVST. Mean D-dimer level was 0.51±0.72 µg/mL (range: 0.10-3.44). Mean D-dimer level was not significantly different between PVST and non-PVST groups (0.68±0.93 µg/mL versus 0.41±0.56 µg/mL, P=0.146). Area under the receiver operating curve for D-dimer level for predicting the presence of PVT was 0.606 (95% confidence interval: 0.478-0.724, P=0.1393). The optimal cut-off value for D-dimer was 0.22 with a sensitivity of 58.3% and a specificity of 69.0%. The subgroup analyses of patients without splenectomy or those with different Child-Pugh classes demonstrated no significant difference in the D-dimer level between PVST and non-PVST groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  D-dimer might not be useful to identify the presence of PVST in liver cirrhosis. However, given the retrospective nature of this study, further well-designed prospective study should be necessary to confirm this finding.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate College, Dalian Medical University Dalian, Liaoning, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Junna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Shenyang 110840, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xingshun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate College, Dalian Medical University Dalian, Liaoning, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Shenyang 110840, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Shenyang 110840, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Shenyang 110840, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Liver Cirrhosis Group, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Shenyang 110840, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaozhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
keywords: D-dimer; Portal vein thrombosis; fibrinolysis; liver cirrhosis; pathogenesis