What is the d-Dimer test?
Henry I. Bussey, Pharm.D., FCCP, FAHA October, 2005 Updated August, 2006 This question has both a simple and a complex answer. The simple answer is that the d-Dimer test is a blood test used to rule out active blood clot formation. If you have a negative (normal) d-Dimer result, that nearly rules out the possibility that you have a blood clot actively forming. If you have an elevated d-Dimer test reult, that does not mean that you have a blood clot; rather an elevated d-Dimer result means that additional testing may be needed to see if a blood clot exists. If you would like to know more detail about the d-Dimer test, read on… When the clotting system is activated to form a clot, part of the process produces a substance called thrombin. Thrombin has several functions, one of which is to covert a clotting protein, fibrinogen, to fibrin. Fibrin molecules then link together to form a net of protein strands that form the basis of the clot. One of the other functions of thrombin is to acti
