Abstract
Aim: We aim to answer the question of “Can D-dimer be an indicator of prognosis and mortality in COPD exacerbations?” by doing retrospective research on the prognosis and mortality of patients who had high D-dimer levels in COPD exacerbations with no thromboembolism detected. 
 Material and Method: Our research is retrospective and cross-sectional. A total of 115 patients who had applied to our hospital between January 2018 and January 2019 with COPD acute exacerbations and who had higher D-dimer levels detected than the 0.44 mg/L upper limit of our hospital’s laboratory are included in this research. All patients have been previously diagnosed with COPD by a pulmonologist and have been undergoing treatment. Patients under the age of 18, patients whose information was not accessible through their files, pregnant patients, patients who have not been diagnosed with COPD by a pulmonologist, patients who had been diagnosed with lung malignancy through pathology, patients where pulmonary embolism was detected through pulmonary CT angiography, patients with renal function test disorder and patients with known renal failure are not included in this study.
 Results: A total of 115 patients were included in the study. Patients who developed mortality had statistically significant lower levels of OSAS, higher rates of pneumonia, anemia, and liver failure, higher numbers of applications to emergency services in 1 year, higher numbers of hospitalizations due to COPD acute exacerbations in 1 year, higher numbers of intensive care unit admissions due to COPD acute exacerbations in 1 year and lower survival time. In addition, patients who developed mortality had statistically significant lower rates of group B and C and higher rates of group D according to the classification of Global Initiative of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Although the D-dimer levels were higher in patients who developed mortality, there were no statistically significant differences between groups. No significant cut-off value for D-dimer was calculated.
 Conclusion: As a result, although our study has found higher D-dimer levels in patients who develop mortality, these results were not statistically significant.
Highlights
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by irreversible airway obstruction and it causes chronic airway inflammation [1,2]
Patients under the age of 18, patients whose information was not accessible through their files, pregnant patients, patients who have not been diagnosed with COPD by a pulmonologist, patients who had been diagnosed with lung malignancy through pathology, patients where pulmonary embolism was detected through pulmonary CT angiography, patients with renal function test disorder and patients with known renal failure are not included in this study
Patients who developed mortality had statistically significant lower rates of group B and C and higher rates of group D according to the classification of Global Initiative of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD)
Summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by irreversible airway obstruction and it causes chronic airway inflammation [1,2]. COPD is one of the most common reasons for mortality, hospitalization, and repeated visits to hospitals worldwide [1,3]. It is the 3rd most common cause of death in the world and 4th in Turkey [4]. Acute exacerbations are related to the mortality rates of patients in hospitals and their prognosis in the long term [6]. COPD acute exacerbations can occur due to pneumonia, additional diseases, seasonal or thromboembolism-related incidents [1,2,3,10]. In the course of COPD, it is common for thromboembolism incidents to occur which are related to hypoxemia and Received: 14.11.2021 Accepted: 08.12.2021
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