• Prabin Khatri, Krishna Kumar Agrawal, Dipesh Sharma, Pradip Chhetri, Aryan Neupane, Rano Mal Piryani, Pawan Puspa Baral, Suman Raj Sapkota, Ashish Banjade, Ashmita Chhetri, Subarna Bhandari, and Swaraj Bharali.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa, Nepal.
• JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021 Mar 31; 59 (235): 243-247.

IntroductionD-dimer is currently the best available marker for COVID-19 associated hemostatic abnormalities. This study aims to find out the prevelance of elevated D-dimer levels in confirmed COVID-19 cases in intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital of western Nepal.MethodsThis descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 95 patients admitted to COVID Intensive Care Unit of a teriary care centre from August 2020 to January 2021 after taking ethical clearence from Institutional Review Committee in order to determine the D-dimer levels in confirmed COVID-19 cases. D-dimer value was measured at the admission and the highest D-dimer value was recorded during the course of hospital stay with the risk of mortality in confirmed COVID-19 cases. The normal range of D-dimer was taken as <0.35 mg/dl as per our hospital laboratory standards. Convenience sampling method was used. Data entry and descriptive analysis were done in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.0, point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.ResultsOut of total 95 cases of COVID-19 included in this study, 25 (89.3%) patients with age ≥ 65 years and 42 (62.69%) patients aged <65 years had elevated D-dimer on admission. Data showed that 29 (67.4%) patients having elevated D-dimer at admission had mortality.ConclusionsElevated D-dimer levels was frequently seen in patients admitted in Intensive Care Unit with COVID-19. Our study suggested that measurement of D-dimer may guide in clinical decision making.

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