D-Dimer Analysis in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

The COVID-19 incidence is increasing around the world. Some countries are experiencing worsening conditions, evendeaths. One coagulation marker that noticeably increases in COVID-19 patients is D-dimer. This study aimed to analyzeD-dimer levels of COVID-19 patients. Retrospective study using medical records of 84 COVID-19 patients, conducted fromApril to August 2020 at UNHAS Hospital. Patients were grouped based on the severity of the disease as non-severe andsevere. D-dimer levels were measured using the Alere Triage® D-dimer with the fluorescent immunoassay method. Thestatistical test used was Mann-Whitney, D-dimer prognostic levels were calculated with ROC analysis to get the cut-off.Significant if the p < of 0.05. The sample consisted of 74 non-severe and ten severe COVID-19 patients, mostly in the 30-39age group. D-dimer levels in non-severe (0.31±0.38 μg/L) significantly differ from severe group (3.09±2.56 μg/L) (p<0.001).The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve showed D-dimer sensitivity and specificity of 90.0% and 89.2%,respectively at the ≥ 0.80 μg/L cut-off, Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 98.5%, and Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of52.9%. D-dimer levels increased in severe COVID-19 patients due to an increased inflammatory response resulting inexcessive thrombin. The ROC D-dimer curve indicated a cut-off rate of 0.80 μg/L, providing optimal sensitivity andspecificity. D-dimer has a significant difference in non-severe and severe COVID-19 patients and shows good value todetermine the severity of COVID-19 disease with a cut-off value ≥ 0.80 μg /L.