My 18 year old daughter has an elevated d dimer. I think they said 1.18. She had a cat scan for blood clots in her lungs. Everything else came back normal except she had an urinary tract infection. What other test should we be asking for to pin point the problem with her d dimer? She had every imaginable test run in ER.
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your concern. If CT scan is normal than no need to worry about blood clots in lung (Pulmonary embolism). D dimer is not a specific marker for Pulmonary embolism. D dimer will be raised in many other conditions other than Pulmonary embolism. D dimer is actually acute phase reactant. So any infection, inflammation in the body will cause raised D dimer. Since she is having Urinary tract infection (UTI), possibility of raised d dimer due to UTI is more. So treat UTI first. Once it is treated, d dimer will definitely be reduced to normal level. Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wishing good health to your daughter. Thanks.