Laboratory diagnosis of venous thromboembolism

Venous thromboembolism is a common medical condition in both out-patients a nd inpatients. Despite the development of non-invasive tests, the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism remains a clinical challeng e. In an effort to improve diagnostic accuracy and to reduce the necessity of serial testing, laboratory markers of thrombin generation and fibrinolys is have been investigated as first-line screening tests. Although the major ity of markers are elevated in acute thrombosis, D-dimer, a specific deriva tive of cross-linked fibrin, appears to have the most potential clinical ut ility. Accuracy studies and preliminary management trials suggest that rapi d D-dimer enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and the whole blood agglutinat ion assay, SimpliRED D-dimer (Agen Biomedical, Brisbane, Australia), have, strong potential as exclusionary tests in patients with suspected venous th rombosis.