• Jeffrey S Berger, Dennis Kunichoff, Samrachana Adhikari, Tania Ahuja, Nancy Amoroso, Yindalon Aphinyanaphongs, Meng Cao, Ronald Goldenberg, Alexander Hindenburg, James Horowitz, Sam Parnia, Christopher Petrilli, Harmony Reynolds, Emma Simon, James Slater, Shadi Yaghi, Eugene Yuriditsky, Judith Hochman, and Leora I Horwitz.
• Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York (J.S.B., J. Horowitz, C.P., H.R., J.S., E.Y., J. Hochman).
• Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 2020 Oct 1; 40 (10): 2539-2547.

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of D-dimer elevation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization, trajectory of D-dimer levels during hospitalization, and its association with clinical outcomes. Approach and Results: Consecutive adults admitted to a large New York City hospital system with a positive polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) between March 1, 2020 and April 8, 2020 were identified. Elevated D-dimer was defined by the laboratory-specific upper limit of normal (>230 ng/mL). Outcomes included critical illness (intensive care, mechanical ventilation, discharge to hospice, or death), thrombotic events, acute kidney injury, and death during admission. Among 2377 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and ≥1 D-dimer measurement, 1823 (76%) had elevated D-dimer at presentation. Patients with elevated presenting baseline D-dimer were more likely than those with normal D-dimer to have critical illness (43.9% versus 18.5%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.4 [95% CI, 1.9-3.1]; P<0.001), any thrombotic event (19.4% versus 10.2%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.4-2.6]; P<0.001), acute kidney injury (42.4% versus 19.0%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.4 [95% CI, 1.9-3.1]; P<0.001), and death (29.9% versus 10.8%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.6-2.9]; P<0.001). Rates of adverse events increased with the magnitude of D-dimer elevation; individuals with presenting D-dimer >2000 ng/mL had the highest risk of critical illness (66%), thrombotic event (37.8%), acute kidney injury (58.3%), and death (47%).ConclusionsAbnormal D-dimer was frequently observed at admission with COVID-19 and was associated with higher incidence of critical illness, thrombotic events, acute kidney injury, and death. The optimal management of patients with elevated D-dimer in COVID-19 requires further study.

50 keywords...

hide…