Usefulness of serum fibrin degradation products and D-dimer levels as biomarkers to predict return of spontaneous circulation in patients with cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival: comparison with acid-base balance.

Aim: We evaluated the usefulness of fibrin degradation products and D-dimer levels in blood to predict return of spontaneous circulation in patients with cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival compared with anion gap and albumin-corrected anion gap.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival who had been transferred to the emergency department of our hospital in 2012. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC(+) group), and those without (ROSC(-) group). The levels of anion gap, albumin-corrected anion gap, fibrin degradation products and D-dimer measured on arrival were compared between the two groups.

Results: Fifty-three patients could be analyzed. The anion gap and albumin-corrected anion gap levels were significantly better in the ROSC(+) group than in the ROSC(-) group (anion gap, 28.7 mmol/L [median] versus 39.1 mmol/L; albumin-corrected anion gap, 31.1 mmol/L versus 40.9 mmol/L). The fibrin degradation product and D-dimer levels were significantly lower in the ROSC(+) group than in the ROSC(-) group (fibrin degradation products, 32.1 μg/mL versus 157.4 μg/mL; D-dimer, 9.9 μg/mL versus 37.4 μg/mL). The area under receiver operating characteristic curves to evaluate the relationship with return of spontaneous circulation of anion gap, albumin-corrected anion gap, fibrin degradation products, and D-dimer were 0.664, 0.667, 0.714, and 0.707, respectively.

Conclusion: Fibrin degradation products and D-dimer levels might be more useful as predictors of return of spontaneous circulation than anion gap and albumin-corrected anion gap.