Investigating the Efficiency of D-Dimer Test in Diagnosis of Aortic Dissection: A Systematic Study and Meta-Analysis

Background: Aortic dissection is a rare and important emergency condition, which usually involves a high mortality rate. Yet, early diagnosis of the disorder would increase the survival rate significantly. Objectives: The present systematic study and meta-analysis aimed at investigating the efficiency of D-dimer test in diagnosis of aortic dissection. Materials and Methods: The data used in this study were extracted from PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Springer, and Willey databases. Specificity, D-dimer, Sensitivity, and Aortic Dissection were the valid keywords used to extract the related articles. Totally, 11 papers published during 1998 - 2007 were selected. I2 index was used to assess heterogeneity across the studies. Results: A total of 596 subjects (averagely 54.5 ones in each study) were examined in the present research and 11 articles were entered into the final meta-analysis. According to the findings, the mean of the specificity test was 0.66 (0.54 - 0.78), with I2 index = 74.9% and p-value = 0.001. Additionally, the mean of the sensitivity test was 0.98 with I2 index = 606% and p-value = 0.381. Moreover, the mean D-dimer plasma level was 18.6 ug/mL in patients suffering from aortic dissection. Conclusion: This study showed the high efficiency of D-dimer test in diagnosis of aortic dissection. Thus, physicians are recommended to apply this quick and inexpensive method when a final diagnosis has not been made yet. Early diagnosis of aortic dissection via D-dimer test would result in implementation of the necessary treatments, eventually leading to a significant decrease in mortality rate.