World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 2021, 11, 135-144 https://www.scirp.org/journal/wjcd ISSN Online: 2164-5337 ISSN Print: 2164-5329 DOI: 10.4236/wjcd.2021.112015 Feb. 24, 2021 135 World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases Evaluation of D-Dimer as a Diagnostic Tool in Patients with Acute Aortic Dissection Samir Rafla 1 , Tarek Bishay 2 1 Cardiology Department, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt 2 National Heart Institute, Cairo, Egypt Abstract Acute (Ac.) Aortic Dissection (AD) is a life threatening cardiovascular emer- gency. The diagnostic methods (e.g., TEE, MRI, Multislice CT) are limited by availability. A fast, cost effective and technically simple method for diagnosis of AAD is needed. D-Dimer is a measure of clot formation and lysis. The aim of this study was to determine whether assessing D-Dimer level can be used for the diagnosis of AAD. Methods: 45 patients with clinical suspicion of AAD who presented within the first 24 hours from symptom onset were stu- died prospectively. 20 patients were proved to have AAD by TEE (group I). The other 25 patients had other final diagnosis (group II). All the 20 patients in group I (100%) with confirmed AAD had positive and elevated D-Dimer levels while only 9 patients in group II (36%) had positive D-Dimer levels (p < 0.001). Mean D-Dimer level was significantly higher in the 20 patients in group I than in the 9 patients with positive test in group II (p < 0.01). The sensitivity of D-Dimer was 100% and the specificity was 64% for the diagnosis of AAD. Mean D-Dimer level was significantly higher in Stanford type A, AAD than in Stanford type B, AAD, (p < 0.01). 5 patients (25%) died during the in–hospital course. Mean D-Dimer level was higher in the patients who died. Conclusion: D-Dimer levels are positive and elevated in all the patients with AAD presenting within the first 24 hours from symptom onset. Keywords Aortic Dissection, D-Dimer 1. Introduction AAD is a life threatening cardiovascular emergency with a mortality rate of 1% - 2% per hour [1]. AAD, if not diagnosed early is frequently fatal [2]. How to cite this paper: Rafla, S. and Bi- shay, T. (2021) Evaluation of D-Dimer as a Diagnostic Tool in Patients with Acute Aor- tic Dissection. World Journal of Cardiovas- cular Diseases, 11, 135-144. https://doi.org/10.4236/wjcd.2021.112015 Received: December 29, 2020 Accepted: February 21, 2021 Published: February 24, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access