Evidence map›Paper›PMID 15496688›Full record

Trial reportEmergency medicine journal : EMJ2004

Evaluation of the Simplify D-dimer assay as a screening test for the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in an emergency department.

D Neale, C Tovey, A Vali, S Davies, K Myers, M Obiako, V Ramkumar, A Hafiz

Abstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Emergency medicine journal : EMJ, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

D NealeEmergency Department, Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan, Wales CF47 9DT, UK.
C Tovey
A Vali
S Davies
K Myers
M Obiako
V Ramkumar
A Hafiz

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo evaluate the use in an emergency department of a new D-dimer assay (Simplify D-dimer) as a screening test for deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

methods187 outpatients with clinical features suspicious of acute DVT were entered into this study. A Simplify D-dimer test was performed in the emergency department on all patients. A SimpliRED D-dimer test and a semi-automated latex agglutination assay (Auto-D-dimer 700 on a Thromboscreen 400C analyser) were performed in the haematology laboratory. All patients were investigated with contrast venography to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of DVT.

resultsThe Simplify test had a sensitivity of 94.1% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 94.8%. These results compared favourably with the SimpliRED test (sensitivity 74.5%, NPV 89.7%) and the latex agglutination assay (sensitivity 90.2%, NPV 92.2%). This increased sensitivity was at the cost of a lower specificity, the specificity of the three d-dimer tests being Simplify 40.4%, SimpliRED 83.1%, and latex agglutination 43.4%.

conclusionsSimplify proved to be a rapid and easy to use test and may be useful for use in the emergency department as part of a diagnostic algorithm for deep vein thrombosis. Further larger scale studies are needed.

Indexed as

Antifibrinolytic AgentsFibrin Fibrinogen Degradation ProductsAcute DiseaseFemaleHumansLatex Fixation TestsMalePredictive Value of TestsSensitivity and SpecificityVenous ThrombosisAntifibrinolytic AgentsFibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Productsfibrin fragment D

Identifiers

PMID15496688
PMCPMC1726495

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.