AUTHOR=Zhou Zhike , Liang Yifan , Zhang Xiaoqian , Xu Junjie , Kang Kexin , Qu Huiling , Zhao Chuansheng , Zhao Mei 

TITLE=Plasma D-Dimer Concentrations and Risk of Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2018.01114

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2018.01114

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> The aim of our meta-analysis was to evaluate the association between plasma d-dimer and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Embase, Pubmed, and Web of Science were searched up to the date of March 19th, 2018, and manual searching was used to extract additional articles. Standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated to evaluate d-dimer levels.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Thirteen studies including 891 ICH patients and 1,573 healthy controls were included. Our results revealed that higher levels of d-dimer were displayed in ICH patients than those in healthy controls (95% CI= 0.98–2.00, <italic>p</italic>&lt; 0.001). Subgroup analysis based on continent of Asia and Europe, sample size, as well as age in relation to d-dimer levels between ICH patients and healthy controls did not change the initial observation; whereas no differences of d-dimer levels were found between ICH and controls in America.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> This meta-analysis revealed that high level of d-dimer is associated with the risk of ICH. Plasma d-dimer is suggested to be a potential biomarker for patients with ICH in Asia and Europe rather than in America. There were no impact of sample size-related differences and age-related diversities on the risk of ICH with respect to d-dimer levels.</p>