Thromb Haemost 1999; 82(05): 1412-1416
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1614846
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Automated Latex Agglutination and ELISA Testing Yield Equivalent D-Dimer Results in Patients with Recent Myocardial Infarction

Victor J. Marder
1   From the Orthopaedic Hospital/UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
,
Wojciech Zareba
2   University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA
,
John T. Horan
2   University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA
,
Arthur J. Moss
2   University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA
,
Joel J. Kanouse
1   From the Orthopaedic Hospital/UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
› Author Affiliations
for the THROMBO Research Investigators
This work was supported in part by Grant Nos. HL-30616, HL-48259, and HL-07152 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD and by support provided by American Bioproducts Co., Parsippany, NJ.
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Publication History

Received 24 June 1999

Accepted after revision 15 July 1999

Publication Date:
09 December 2017 (online)

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Summary

Our previous prospective study of post-infarction patients described a strong and significant association of increased plasma D-dimer concentrations in those who experienced a subsequent coronary death or non-fatal myocardial infarction. In the present study, we compare results on stored plasma obtained two months after the index myocardial infarction from 1,038 patients of this trial, using a simple automated latex agglutination (LA) assay in parallel with the standard ELISA test. Results show a somewhat higher mean value for the LA assay (702 ± 1092 vs. 638 ± 986 ng/ml, p = 0.0002), a strong linear correlation of the two assays (r = 0.86) and 88% agreement for values below 500 ng/ml by the ELISA test. D-dimer concentrations determined by each assay were highly correlated in patients with subsequent coronary artery events (p = 0.93) and quartile values for both the LA and ELISA were equally predictive of such events (p = 0.003 and p = 0.001, respectively). This is the first demonstration that a latex agglutination assay for D-dimer can be used to assess the prognostic risk of recurrent coronary thrombotic disease after myocardial infarction