Fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products in acute aortic dissection

The elevated D-dimer value is one of the clues used to diagnose acute aortic dissection (AAD), but the rapid D-dimer assay is not used at all emergency hospitals. The fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products (FDP) value is also an indicator of enhanced fibrinolysis and may therefore be a useful marker in patients with AAD. In addition, the association between FDP values and partial thrombosis of the false lumen is not elucidated.

The present study enrolled 50 patients (66.5±11.2 years of age; median, 66.5 years of age, male subjects comprised 60.0% of the series) with AAD who were admitted to the hospital between July 2005 and December 2007 and 57 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI; 70.8±10.4 years of age; median, 71.0 years of age, male subjects comprised 71.9% of the current series) served as a control group.

The FDP values (µg/mL) in patients with AAD were significantly higher than those of AMI patients (40.2±78.6; median, 14.7 vs. 5.2±9.8; median, 1.7, p<0.001). A receiver operating characteristic curves analysis showed that an elevated FDP level (2.05 µg/mL) was predictive of a diagnosis of AAD with a sensitivity and specificity of 98% and 54%, respectively. The FDP levels of patients (n=14) who had partial thrombosis of the false lumen were significantly higher than in discharged patients without a surgical repair (n=21) who had a patent or complete thrombosis of the false lumen (35.8±43.2; median, 18.8 vs. 14.0±21.3; median, 5.5, p=0.01).

The measurement of FDP may therefore be useful for the initial assessment of patients with suspected AAD and in the prediction of thrombotic status of the false lumen.