Indagine sulla modalità di refertazione dell'esame D-dimero nei laboratori nazionali e indicazioni per una sua armonizzazione

D-dimer assessment represents a cornerstone in the diagnostic approach and therapeutic management of several thrombotic disorders, namely venous thromboembolism and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Nevertheless, this test is still plagued by an insufficient degree of analytical and post-analytical standardization. In particular, despite the existence of national guidelines, result reporting is quite heterogeneous. A specific on-line, 5-item questionnaire was disseminated to the SIBioC members to obtain a picture of the current national situation. As regards to the units, a modest prevalence (53%) of D-dimer unit (DDU) over fibrinogen equivalent unit (FEU) (47%) was found. The most widespread measurement unit was "ng/mL" (60%), followed by "μg/L" (18%), "mg/L" (15%) and "μg/mL" (6%). The vast majority of laboratories (90%) did not use an age-adjusted cut-off. The data distribution did not differ among different types of healthcare settings (i.e., general hospital, university hospital or private facilities). The use of at least 16 different unit approaches for D-dimer emerged from the survey is quite alarming and calls for a standardization, using a single result reporting as .