Impact of the Age-Adjusted D-Dimer Cutoff to Exclude Pulmonary Embolism

Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) relies on the sequential use of pretest probability (PTP), plasma D-dimer, and computed tomography pulmonary angiography. D-dimer <500 µg/L safely excludes PE in association with a low or intermediate (nonhigh) PTP in approximately one-third of outpatients. To increase the clinical usefulness of D-dimer, a cutoff adjusted to patient’s age was explored. [...]