[Evaluation of five D-dimer assays for the exclusion of venous thromboembolism].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of five D-dimer assays for the exclusion of suspected venous thromboembolis (VTE).

METHODS

The plasma D-dimer levels of 75 suspected VTE patients were tested with ELISA, VIDAS DD, DD Plus, Liatest STAGO DD, and NycoCard DD. The results of the five assays were compared with the gold standard of diagnosis of VTE.

RESULTS

Liatest STAGO DD, DD Plus, VIDAS DD and ELISA had good diagnostic performance for the exclusion of suspected VTE. Liatest STAGO DD had the greatest accuracy for differentiating diagnosis, with 0.814 of area under the curve (AUC), 96.7% of sensitivity, and 95.5% of negative predictive value. ELISA had the greatest specificity (48.9%). The five assays showed good correlations, with VIDAS DD and Liatest STAGO DD having the greatest correlation coefficient (r = 0.9106). VIDAS DD and Liatest STAGO DD correlated well with ELISA (r = 0.8764 and r = 0.8360 respectively).

CONCLUSION

Liatest STAGO DD, DD Plus, and VIDAS DD have good diagnostic performance for the exclusion of VTE. They are easier and quicker to perform and can serve as an alternative test for ELISA. Further validation is needed for clinical applications.