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Laboratory Information

Test Name

D-Dimer

Synonyms

d dimer

External Price (excl. GST)

29.16

Specimen Collection

Adult Specimen

Waikato and Thames - 2.7 mL sodium citrate tube (light blue)

Paediatric Specimen

1.8 mL paediatric sodium citrate tube (light blue)

Test Information

Department

Haematology

Test Availability

Mon - Sun, 24hrs

Laboratory Turnaround Time

1 hour

Method

Innovance D-Dimer (Waikato), AQT D-Dimer (Taumarunui, Te Kuiti, Tokoroa). Reported as Fibrinogen Equivalent Units (FEU)

Reference interval

D-dimer cut off values

Age	D-Dimer cut-off values
<50 years	<500
>50 years	Age x 10

Diagnostic Use Or Instructions

D-dimer has limited specificity and will be positive in many hospitalised patients without venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Do not perform a D-Dimer test for the exclusion of VTE during pregnancy.

Low risk patients in whom diagnostic testing is indicated should have Pulmonary Embolism (PE) excluded by a negative D-dimer, not imaging. Don’t request any diagnostic testing for suspected PE unless indicated by Wells Score (or Charlotte Rule) followed by PE Rule-out Criteria (in patients not pregnant).

Restrict testing to those patients with a high enough clinical suspicion of VTE to merit further investigation, not to rule out the remote possibility of VTE:

Do not request a D-dimer in post-operative patients.

Minimum Volume

500uL platelet poor plasma

Electronic Information

Registration Code

DIMER

HL7 mapping code

$DIMER

LOINC Code

30240-6

Laboratory Test Reference Guide