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. 2010 Feb;22(1):20-3.
doi: 10.1007/BF03324810.

Correlates of D-dimer in older persons

Freddy Tita-Nwa  1 , Angelo Bos, Abdul Adjei, William B Ershler, Dan L Longo, Luigi Ferrucci
Affiliations

Correlates of D-dimer in older persons

Freddy Tita-Nwa et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Background and aims: D-dimer is a marker of active fibrinolysis. Understanding how age-related factors affect D-dimer levels may help the interpretation of high D-dimer levels in older individuals.

Methods: 776 Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA) participants (mean age 68.4+/-13.9 yrs) were divided into three groups according to baseline D-dimer levels >200 ng/mL; 100-200 ng/mL and <100 ng/mL.

Results: D-dimer level increased with age (p<0.0001). Using polychotomous logistic regression models, we found that age, cholesterol, triglycerides, creatinine, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, hemoglobin and body mass index were independently associated with D-dimer level.

Conclusions: Rising levels of D-dimer with age can be explained in part by the high prevalence of pro-inflammatory conditions and increasing burden of lipid abnormalities, anemia and obesity. These factors compromise the specificity of D-dimer levels as a diagnostic aid to thrombosis in older individuals.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Relationship between age and D-dimer levels in the whole study population and separately in men and women (Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging, n = 776).
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