Changes of Plasma Levels of FDP and D-dimer in the Deep Vein Thrombosis

Abstract

D-dimer has been extensively evaluated as a diagnostic test for acute venous thromboembolism. However, little is known about the time course of the markers of hemostatic system during the treatment with heparin and urokinase. This paper concerns the changes with time of fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) and D-dimer in the patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The subjects were consecutive 24 patients with acute symptomatic proximal DVT diagnosed between September 1999 and December 2004. There were 11 men and 13 women and their ages ranged from 29 to 88 years old, with a mean of 61.5 years old. The affected limbs were 19 left lower, 4 right lower and one right upper extremities. All patients were treated with intravenous drip infusion of heparin (10,000 units/day) and urokinase (240,000 units/day) for 5 to 7 days. Blood was sampled before and during the treatment. FDP and D-dimer levels were determined using a immunoturbidimetric assay. The mean plasma levels of FD P and D-dimer before the treatment were 19.1±10.8 and 10.2±5.1μg/ml, respectively. They diminished gradually and normalized within about 2 weeks after the treatment. The relationship between FDP (Y), D-dimer (X) was Y=1.854+1.419X, R=0.767, p<0.0001. The plasma levels of PDP (Y₁), D-dimer (Y₂) before the treatment and the presumptive affected period before the treatment (x days) revealed the following relationship, respectively. Y₁=30.558-2.237x, R=0.678, p=0.0005, Y₂=13.883-0.689x, R=0.453, p=0.03. There is a possibility that one can speculate the affected period of the patients with DVT by the plasma levels of FDP and D-dimer.