The Clinical Value of D-Dimer Level in Patients with Nonaneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVE: More nonaneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (NaSAH) are found in clinical practice. However, the precise mechanisms in which D-dimer level is associated with clinical condition in patients with NaSAH remain unclear. But even more, the data assessing the risk of clinical course in the patients with NaSAH are scarce. Our objective was to investigate whether D-dimer levels correlated with complication and outcome in patients with NaSAH. METHODS: Between February 2013 and May 2017, 92 patients suffering from NaSAH were treated in our hospital. Patient characteristics, radiologic features, laboratory findings, complications, and outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were stratified into the peri-mesencephalic (PM) subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) group and the nonperimesencephalic (NPM) SAH group according to the bleeding type, and the NPM-SAH group was further divided into 2 subgroups into the NPM-elevated group and the NPM-normal group based on the value of the D-dimer. After statistical analysis, the NPM-SAH and PM-SAH groups were compared; the same was true for the NPM-elevated group and the NPM-normal group. RESULTS: The rate of complications in the NPM-SAH group was higher than in the PM-SAH group, including early hydrocephalus, delayed cerebral ischemia, clinical vasospasm, pneumonia, and hyponatremia. Our results showed that D-dimer levels in patients with NPM-SAH were more elevated than in those with PM-SAH. Further analysis of subgroups demonstrated that patients with elevated D-dimer levels had a higher incidence of complications than those with normal D-dimer levels, especially the risks of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus and pneumonia. In addition, disability, and even death, could be seen in patients with higher levels of D-dimer, but the long-term outcomes were not particularly obvious between these groups. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated D-dimer levels on admission were significantly associated with complication in patients with NPM-SAH. In addition to conventional radiologic diagnosis, D-dimer levels can increase the ability of a rapid differential diagnosis between NPM-SAH and PM-SAH.