The need for accurate D-dimer reporting in COVID-19: Communication from the ISTH SSC on Fibrinolysis

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to claim many lives across the world In the attempts to identify a reliable prognostic indicator, marked elevation of D-dimer has been a strong contender 1,2 In many studies, D-dimers have consistently been shown to be the most significant marker for illness severity and death risk prediction 3,4 Despite the usefulness of this fibrinolytic marker, along with a recent letter by Gris et al ,5 we note several problems across the medical literature with D-dimer reporting creating confusion and potentially misleading data interpretation