Prognostic value of serum d-dimer levels in patients with community acquired pneumonia

Abstract

Aim: D-dimer results from the fibrin breakdown after fibrinolytic system activation. Although the potential use of serum D-dimer levels has been assessed as a screening test for venous thromboembolism, its role in other disorders has not been as well defined. Little is known about the relationship between D-dimer levels and the clinical outcomes of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of plasma D-dimer levels in patients with CAP.Material and methods: This prospective study was conducted between January 2006 to September 2006 including 64 cases diagnosed as CAP, 45 cases as pulmonary emboli and 20 cases for control group. The demographic characteristics, physical examination findings and laboratory test results of cases were recorded. The severety of cases in pneumonia group were assessed with Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI). Among three groups levels of D-dimer in serum were measured with latex buttressed turbidimetric method for quantitative determination and compared.Results: Serum D-dimer levels were higher in patients with pulmonary embolism (748.3 +/- 769.6 mu g/L) when compared other two groups and it was higher in CAP (357.8 +/- 294.7 mu g/L) group when compared to controls (149.7 +/- 99.6 mu g/L) (p<0.05). A significant relationship was found between the presence of elevated D-dimer levels and radiologic pneumonia extension and PSI.Conclusion: We concluded that D-dimer levels could be useful for predicting clinical outcome in patients with CAP.