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A simplified decision rule to rule out deep vein thrombosis using clinical assessment and D-dimer

Xu, Keying ; de Wit, Kerstin ; Geersing, Geert Jan ; Takada, Toshihiko ; Schutgens, Roger ; Elf, Johan LU ; Kearon, Clive and Parpia, Sameer (2021) In Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 19(7). p.1752-1758
Abstract

Background: Current clinical decision rules to exclude deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are underused partly because of their complexity. A simplified rule that can be easily applied would be more appealing to use in clinical practice. Methods: We used individual patient data from prospective diagnostic studies of patients suspected of DVT to develop a new clinical decision rule. The primary outcome was presence of DVT either at initial testing or during follow-up. DVT was considered safely excluded if the upper 95% confidence interval (CI) of DVT prevalence was <2%. Results: Four studies and 3368 patients were eligible for this analysis. Overall prevalence of DVT was 17%. In addition to D-dimer, two variables, calf swelling and DVT as the... (More)

Background: Current clinical decision rules to exclude deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are underused partly because of their complexity. A simplified rule that can be easily applied would be more appealing to use in clinical practice. Methods: We used individual patient data from prospective diagnostic studies of patients suspected of DVT to develop a new clinical decision rule. The primary outcome was presence of DVT either at initial testing or during follow-up. DVT was considered safely excluded if the upper 95% confidence interval (CI) of DVT prevalence was <2%. Results: Four studies and 3368 patients were eligible for this analysis. Overall prevalence of DVT was 17%. In addition to D-dimer, two variables, calf swelling and DVT as the most likely diagnosis, are included in the new rule. Based on these two variables, two clinical pretest probability (CPTP) groups were defined; low (none of the two items present) and high (at least one of the items present). DVT can be safely excluded in patients with low CPTP with a D-dimer <500 ng/mL (prevalence = 0.1%; 95% CI, 0.0-0.8), low CPTP with a D-dimer between 500 ng/ml and 1000 ng/ml (prevalence = 0.3%; 95% CI, 0.0-1.7), and D-dimer <500 ng/ml in patients with high CPTP (prevalence = 0.3%; 95% CI, 0.0-1.0). Conclusions: The combination of D-dimer and Wells items resulted in a simple clinical decision rule with 3 items. The results suggest that the rule can safely exclude DVT. Prospective validation is required.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
deep vein thrombosis, diagnosis, fibrinogen, ultrasonography, venous thromboembolism
in
Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis
volume
19
issue
7
pages
7 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:33834620
  • scopus:85105089654
ISSN
1538-7933
DOI
10.1111/jth.15337
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0bd2c878-76ef-4305-9521-b01cc33816ab
date added to LUP
2021-05-31 14:58:35
date last changed
2024-03-23 05:17:27
@article{0bd2c878-76ef-4305-9521-b01cc33816ab,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Current clinical decision rules to exclude deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are underused partly because of their complexity. A simplified rule that can be easily applied would be more appealing to use in clinical practice. Methods: We used individual patient data from prospective diagnostic studies of patients suspected of DVT to develop a new clinical decision rule. The primary outcome was presence of DVT either at initial testing or during follow-up. DVT was considered safely excluded if the upper 95% confidence interval (CI) of DVT prevalence was &lt;2%. Results: Four studies and 3368 patients were eligible for this analysis. Overall prevalence of DVT was 17%. In addition to D-dimer, two variables, calf swelling and DVT as the most likely diagnosis, are included in the new rule. Based on these two variables, two clinical pretest probability (CPTP) groups were defined; low (none of the two items present) and high (at least one of the items present). DVT can be safely excluded in patients with low CPTP with a D-dimer &lt;500 ng/mL (prevalence = 0.1%; 95% CI, 0.0-0.8), low CPTP with a D-dimer between 500 ng/ml and 1000 ng/ml (prevalence = 0.3%; 95% CI, 0.0-1.7), and D-dimer &lt;500 ng/ml in patients with high CPTP (prevalence = 0.3%; 95% CI, 0.0-1.0). Conclusions: The combination of D-dimer and Wells items resulted in a simple clinical decision rule with 3 items. The results suggest that the rule can safely exclude DVT. Prospective validation is required.</p>}},
  author       = {{Xu, Keying and de Wit, Kerstin and Geersing, Geert Jan and Takada, Toshihiko and Schutgens, Roger and Elf, Johan and Kearon, Clive and Parpia, Sameer}},
  issn         = {{1538-7933}},
  keywords     = {{deep vein thrombosis; diagnosis; fibrinogen; ultrasonography; venous thromboembolism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{1752--1758}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis}},
  title        = {{A simplified decision rule to rule out deep vein thrombosis using clinical assessment and D-dimer}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jth.15337}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/jth.15337}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}