Diagnostic utility of D-dimer concentrations in dogs with pulmonary embolism | VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the use of D-dimers in predicting the presence or absence of pulmonary emboli in dogs. Pulmonary embolism (PE) refers to an obstruction of a pulmonary vessel, which could be caused by a blood clot, tissue, infectious material, parasites, foreign bodies, or other material (Goggs). There are a variety of diseases known to increase risk for PE's in our canine patients, including immune-mediated diseases such as IMHA, protein-losing nephropathies, hyperadrenocorticism, neoplasia, sepsis, and cardiac disease, as well as the use of certain medications like steroids. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of PE can be challenging due to non-specific clinical and radiographic changes. Probably many of us have seen an IMHA patient become acutely dyspneic with minimal radiographic changes, a situation where you may highly suspect a PE! In human medicine, CT or pulmonary angiography are the gold standard for antemortem diagnosis (Torbicki), but there have been various studies in both humans and in dogs evaluating the use of D-dimers as a tool to rule out a PE.