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. 2017 Jan;13(1):285-289.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2016.3930. Epub 2016 Nov 28.

D-dimer level for predicting the in-hospital mortality in liver cirrhosis: A retrospective study

Yun Li  1 , Xingshun Qi  2 , Hongyu Li  2 , Junna Dai  1 , Han Deng  1 , Jing Li  1 , Ying Peng  1 , Xu Liu  2 , Xiaolin Sun  2 , Xiaozhong Guo  2
Affiliations

D-dimer level for predicting the in-hospital mortality in liver cirrhosis: A retrospective study

Yun Li et al. Exp Ther Med. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the correlation of D-dimer levels with the Child-Pugh and MELD scores, as well as to determine the predictive ability of D-dimer level for the in-hospital mortality of liver cirrhosis patients. All cirrhotic patients who were consecutively admitted to our hospital between January 2011 and June 2014, and underwent D-dimer tests on admission were retrospectively analyzed. Pearson's χ2 tests were employed to evaluate the correlations of D-dimer levels with Child-Pugh and MELD scores. In addition, receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was employed to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of D-dimer levels for predicting the in-hospital mortality. In total, 703 cirrhotic patients were included in the study, with an in-hospital mortality of 5.4% (38/703). The D-dimer levels were correlated with Child-Pugh (correlation coefficient, 0.219; P<0.001) and MELD scores (correlation coefficient, 0.207; P<0.001). The highest D-dimer level was observed in the Child-Pugh class C patients, followed by the class B and A patients. Furthermore, D-dimer was significantly higher in the MELD score >15 group compared with the MELD score <15 group. The area under the ROC of D-dimer levels for predicting the in-hospital mortality of liver cirrhosis was 0.729 (P<0.0001), while the best cut-off D-dimer value was 0.28 µg/ml with a sensitivity of 86.84% and a specificity of 49.17%. In conclusion, the D-dimer level is significantly associated with the degree of liver dysfunction. Therefore, D-dimer testing could be employed for the prognostic stratification of liver cirrhosis.

Keywords: Child-Pugh; D-dimer; Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; liver cirrhosis; survival.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Boxplots demonstrating the comparison of D-dimer levels with the three Child-Pugh classifications (class A-C).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Boxplots demonstrating the comparison of D-dimer levels between the MELD score of <15 and >15 groups. MELD, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Receiver operating curve analysis of D-dimer levels for predicting the in-hospital mortality in liver cirrhosis patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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