d dimer test - Blood and Blood Vessel Message Board

hilery79 · 06-10-2003, 09:47 PM

Can anyone tell me what a "weak positive" d dimer test could mean?

writeonmama · 08-18-2003, 11:19 PM

Don't know if you still need the info, but my guess is this. The d-dimer tells if you have a clot somewhere in your body. 0-1 is good. No clot indicated. The higher abover 1 you get, the more the likelihood of a clot. When I was diagnosed w/a pulmonary embolism, my d-dimer was only 1.6. A weak positive, perhaps? The embolism was diagnosed after a CT scan was done based on the d-dimer results.

projapoti · 08-19-2003, 08:55 AM

I agree with writeonmama. The D-dimer is actually a byproduct of your body breaking down a clot. A weak-positive means that, there is evidence that there is a clot somewhere in your body that is being broken down, but the evidence from the D-dimer lab test count alone is not going to be able to diagnose a DVT somewhere. In other words, because it's not definitive, they would probably have to do another, more explanatory test like an ultrasound (for a leg vein) or a spiral CT (for the lungs).