• M E Hoffmann, O J Ma, and G Gaddis.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Truman Medical Center, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA. crazydiamond@aol.com
• Acad Emerg Med. 2001 Sep 1;8(9):859-65.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the sensitivity of a D-dimer assay as a screening tool for possible traumatic or spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage. If adequately sensitive, the D-dimer assay may potentially permit omission of a more expensive computed tomography (CT) scan of the head when such hemorrhage is clinically suspected.MethodsProspective, consecutive, blinded study of patients (age > 16 years) requiring a CT scan of the head for suspected intracranial hemorrhage over a five-month period at a university, Level I trauma center. All study patients had a serum D-dimer assay obtained prior to their CT scans. Sensitivity and specificity, with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) D-dimer assay for the detection of intracranial hemorrhage were calculated.ResultsOf the 319 patients entered in the study, 25 (7.8%) had a CT scan positive for intracranial hemorrhage. Patients with intracranial hemorrhage were more likely to have a positive D-dimer assay (chi-square = 13.075, p < 0.001). The D-dimer assay had 21 true-positive and four false-negative tests, resulting in a sensitivity of 84.0% (95% CI = 63.7% to 95.5%) and a specificity of 55.8% (95% CI = 55.5% to 55.9%). The four false-negative cases included one small intraparenchymal hemorrhage, one small subarachnoid hemorrhage, one moderate-sized intraparenchymal hemorrhage with mid-line shift, and one large subdural hematoma requiring emergent surgery.ConclusionsDue to the catastrophic nature of missing an intracranial hemorrhage in the emergency department, the D-dimer assay is not adequately sensitive or predictive to use as a screening tool to allow routine omission of head CT scanning.

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