D-Dimer as a Sensitive Biomarker of Survival Rate in Patients with COVID-19

The global case fatality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 is 2.16% as announced by the World Health Organization. In Indonesia, according to the Ministry of Health, the number is even higher, reaching a 2.8% case fatality rate. D-dimer levels were found to affect coronavirus disease 2019 patient's survival in several studies. The study aimed to determine whether the amount of D-dimer predicted survival in coronavirus disease 2019 patients.

This research was performed in a retrospective cohort design and used survival analysis. From March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020, the samples were collected from polymerase chain reaction-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 patients at Mohammad Hoesin General Hospital in Palembang, South Sumatera, Indonesia. We used electronic medical records to obtain demographic (age and gender), coexisting condition, laboratory (coagulation and hematologic test), and outcome (non-survivors or survivors) data. The chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used to evaluate the results. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Mantel-Haenszel log-rank test were used to examine D-dimer levels and patient outcomes. Youden index was calculated to determine the optimal cut-off value of D-dimer.

There were 52 non-survivors and 235 survivors among the 287 patients who met the inclusion criterion. Non-survivors had D-dimer levels of more than 1.49 mg/L in 82.69%of cases. Males had lower cut-off compared to females (>1.49 mg/L vs. >2.2 mg/L). The researchers discovered a highly significant correlation between D-dimer levels and coronavirus disease 2019 mortality (P=.001). The c-index analysis showed that D-dimer (0.79, 95% CI: 0.73-0.83) ability for mortality prediction was the second-best compared with other laboratory markers.

D-dimer can be used as a predictor of coronavirus disease 2019 in-hospital mortality for early identification of coagulopathy.