Retrospective Analysis of Follow-up and Results of Patients with High D-Dimer Value and Discharged without Emergency Pathology

Abstract

Background This study aimed to retrospectively examine the morbidity and mortality rates after discharge of patients who applied to the emergency department with high D-dimer values but had no pathology upon evaluation.
 Material and Methods Patients over the age of 18 who applied to Bursa Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Emergency Department with preliminary diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in a two-year period between January 2018 and December 2019 were included in the study. The patient group consisted of cases with high D-dimer levels while the control group inluded patients with negative D-dimer and no pathology on discharge.
 Results A total of 594 cases; 297 D-dimer positive (+) and 297 D-dimer negative (-), were included in the study. A significant difference existed between the percentage of patients developing illness post-discharge in the D-dimer (+) 18.86% (n=56) and D-dimer (-) 1.68% (n=5) groups, respectively. The most common illness identified in the dimer (+) group after discharge up was pneumonia (n=11), followed by Coronary Artery Disease (n=5). Death rate was 1.68% (n=5) in the D-dimer (-) group and 11.78% (n=35) in the D-dimer (+) group; a statistically significant difference (p=0.001).
 Conclusions In conclusion, both morbidity and mortality rates were found to be significantly higher in the D-dimer positive group.