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D-dimer threshold increase with pretest probability unlikely for pulmonary embolism to decrease unnecessary computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography.

ABSTRACT: Increasing the threshold to define a positive D-dimer could reduce unnecessary computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for a suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) but might increase rates of a missed PE and missed pneumonia, the most common non-thromboembolic diagnosis seen on CTPA.Measure the effect of doubling the standard D-dimer threshold for 'PE unlikely' Revised Geneva (RGS) or Wells' scores on the exclusion rate, frequency and size of a missed PE and missed pneumonia.Patients evaluated for a suspected PE with 64-channel CTPA were prospectively enrolled from emergency departments (EDs) and inpatient units of four hospitals. Pretest probability data were collected in real time and the D-dimer was measured in a central laboratory. Criterion standard was CPTA interpretation by two independent radiologists combined with clinical outcome at 30 days.Of 678 patients enrolled, 126 (19%) were PE+ and 93 (14%) had pneumonia. Use of either Wells' ? 4 or RGS ? 6 produced similar results. For example, with RGS ? 6 and standard threshold (< 500 ng mL(-1)), D-dimer was negative in 110/678 (16%), and 4/110 were PE+ (posterior probability 3.8%) and 9/110 (8.2%) had pneumonia. With RGS ? 6 and a threshold < 1000 ng mL(-1) , D-dimer was negative in 208/678 (31%) and 11/208 (5.3%) were PE+, but 10/11 missed PEs were subsegmental and none had concomitant DVT. Pneumonia was found in 12/208 (5.4%) with RGS ? 6 and D-dimer < 1000 ng mL(-1).Doubling the threshold for a positive D-dimer with a PE unlikely pretest probability could reduce CTPA scanning with a slightly increased risk of missed isolated subsegmental PE, and no increase in rate of missed pneumonia.

SUBMITTER: Kline JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3319270 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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D-dimer threshold increase with pretest probability unlikely for pulmonary embolism to decrease unnecessary computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography.

Kline J A JA Hogg M M MM Courtney D M DM Miller C D CD Jones A E AE Smithline H A HA

Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH 20120401 4

<h4>Background</h4>Increasing the threshold to define a positive D-dimer could reduce unnecessary computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for a suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) but might increase rates of a missed PE and missed pneumonia, the most common non-thromboembolic diagnosis seen on CTPA.<h4>Objective</h4>Measure the effect of doubling the standard D-dimer threshold for 'PE unlikely' Revised Geneva (RGS) or Wells' scores on the exclusion rate, frequency and size of a missed PE ...[more]

PMID: 22284935

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Project description:ImportanceIn patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), overuse of diagnostic imaging is an important point of concern.ObjectiveTo derive and validate a 4-level pretest probability rule (4-Level Pulmonary Embolism Clinical Probability Score [4PEPS]) that makes it possible to rule out PE solely on clinical criteria and optimized D-dimer measurement to safely decrease imaging testing for suspected PE.Design, setting, and participantsThis study included consecutive outpatients suspected of having PE from US and European emergency departments. Individual data from 3 merged management studies (n = 11 114; overall prevalence of PE, 11%) were used for the derivation cohort and internal validation cohort. The external validation cohorts were taken from 2 independent studies, the first with a high PE prevalence (n = 1548; prevalence, 21.5%) and the second with a moderate PE prevalence (n = 1669; prevalence, 11.7%). A prior definition of pretest probability target values to achieve a posttest probability less than 2% was used on the basis of the negative likelihood ratios of D-dimer. Data were collected from January 2003 to April 2016, and data were analyzed from June 2018 to August 2019.Main outcomes and measuresThe rate of PE diagnosed during the initial workup or during follow-up and the rate of imaging testing.ResultsOf the 5588 patients in the derivation cohort, 3441 (61.8%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 52 (18.5) years. The 4PEPS comprises 13 clinical variables scored from -2 to 5. It results in the following strategy: (1) very low probability of PE if 4PEPS is less than 0: PE ruled out without testing; (2) low probability of PE if 4PEPS is 0 to 5: PE ruled out if D-dimer level is less than 1.0 μg/mL; (3) moderate probability of PE if 4PEPS is 6 to 12: PE ruled out if D-dimer level is less than the age-adjusted cutoff value; (4) high probability of PE if 4PEPS is greater than 12: PE ruled out by imaging without preceding D-dimer test. In the first and the second external validation cohorts, the area under the receiver operator characteristic curves were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.82) and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.81), respectively. The false-negative testing rates if the 4PEPS strategy had been applied were 0.71% (95% CI, 0.37 to 1.23) and 0.89% (95% CI, 0.53 to 1.49), respectively. The absolute reductions in imaging testing were -22% (95% CI, -26 to -19) and -19% (95% CI, -22 to -16) in the first and second external validation cohorts, respectively. The 4PEPS strategy compared favorably with all recent strategies in terms of imaging testing.Conclusions and relevanceThe 4PEPS strategy may lead to a substantial and safe reduction in imaging testing for patients with suspected PE. It should now be tested in a formal outcome study.

Dataset Information

D-dimer threshold increase with pretest probability unlikely for pulmonary embolism to decrease unnecessary computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography.

Publications

D-dimer threshold increase with pretest probability unlikely for pulmonary embolism to decrease unnecessary computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography.

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