Association between D-dimer level and portal venous system thrombosis in liver cirrhosis: a retrospective observational study

• Published in: International journal of clinical and experimental medicine 2015-01, Vol.8 (9), p.15296-15301
• Main Authors: Dai, Junna, Qi, Xingshun, Peng, Ying, Hou, Yue, Chen, Jiang, Li, Hongyu, Guo, Xiaozhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 1940-5901; 1940-5901

This study aimed to explore the association between D-dimer levels and presence of portal venous system thrombosis (PVST) in liver cirrhosis. 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. 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. 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.