We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




D-Dimer Testing Can Identify Patients at Higher Risk of Pulmonary Embolism

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 04 Apr 2025
Print article
Image: The study investigated D-dimer testing in patients who are at higher risk of pulmonary embolism (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)
Image: The study investigated D-dimer testing in patients who are at higher risk of pulmonary embolism (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a commonly suspected condition in emergency departments (EDs) and can be life-threatening if not diagnosed correctly. Achieving an accurate diagnosis is vital for providing effective management and treatment. For patients at low or moderate risk for PE, D-dimer testing is recommended as part of the diagnostic strategy, thanks to its high negative predictive value. However, in patients with a high clinical likelihood of PE, the high prevalence of the condition can reduce the negative predictive value of D-dimer testing, increasing the likelihood of diagnostic failure. As a result, guidelines suggest that high-risk patients undergo chest imaging (CI) directly, bypassing D-dimer testing. Yet, there is limited evidence to support this recommendation. A new study has sought to evaluate the safety of excluding PE based on D-dimer testing in patients with a high clinical probability of the condition.

Researchers at Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (Paris, France), along with collaborators, conducted the study to address the uncertainty around ruling out PE in high-risk patients based on D-dimer levels. The study involved a post hoc analysis of three European studies (PROPER, MODIGLIANI, and TRYSPEED). Patients included in the analysis had a high clinical probability of PE, as determined by either the Wells or the revised Geneva score, and had undergone D-dimer testing.

The results, published in the peer-reviewed journal Academic Emergency Medicine, demonstrated that ruling out PE based on a D-dimer level below the age-adjusted threshold was safe, with no instances of missed pulmonary embolism. However, the sample size of the study was not large enough to definitively conclude the safety of this diagnostic approach. The findings could have significant implications for the clinical management of high-risk PE patients, but further research is required to confirm these results in larger populations.

Related Links:
Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital

Gold Member
Antipsychotic TDM Assays
Saladax Antipsychotic Assays
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Vaginitis Test
Allplex Vaginitis Screening Assay
New
HIV Test
Anti-HIV (1/2) Rapid Test Kit

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.