Which statement about D-Dimer performance is correct?

Which statement about D-Dimer performance is correct?

• A. 95% Specific, not sensitive
• B. 95% Sensitive, not specific
• C. 100% Sensitive
• D. 50% Sensitive

Answer: (B)

D-dimer is best understood as a highly sensitive test with limited specificity. This means it’s good at catching those with thrombotic disease (a negative result can help rule out PE or DVT in low-to-intermediate risk patients), but a positive result is not diagnostic because many other conditions—infection, inflammation, surgery, pregnancy, cancer—can raise D-dimer levels. In practice, sensitivity is about 95%, while specificity is relatively poor. So the statement describing it as highly sensitive (around 95%) but not specific correctly captures how D-dimer behaves. The other options misstate either the sensitivity or the specificity (no test is 100% sensitive for D-dimer; 95% specificity would imply high specificity, which is not the case; 50% sensitivity would be far too low).

D-dimer is best understood as a highly sensitive test with limited specificity. This means it’s good at catching those with thrombotic disease (a negative result can help rule out PE or DVT in low-to-intermediate risk patients), but a positive result is not diagnostic because many other conditions—infection, inflammation, surgery, pregnancy, cancer—can raise D-dimer levels. In practice, sensitivity is about 95%, while specificity is relatively poor. So the statement describing it as highly sensitive (around 95%) but not specific correctly captures how D-dimer behaves. The other options misstate either the sensitivity or the specificity (no test is 100% sensitive for D-dimer; 95% specificity would imply high specificity, which is not the case; 50% sensitivity would be far too low).