As you know, during pregnancy in the body of a woman there are numerous changes that affect the work of almost all organs and systems. Blood is not an exception.
Under the influence of a large number of estrogens in the blood of a pregnant woman, the homeostatic system is always in a state of "alertness". This fact is directly displayed on the analyzes: the amount of fibrinogen in the blood, prothrombin and antithrombin increases. Therefore, often a woman is prescribed an analysis of D-dimer in order to check the values in the norm or there are deviations.
What is "D-dimer"?
This analysis allows us to determine the concentration in the blood of the degradation products of fibrinogen, which participates in the clotting process. Those. high D-dimer shows that the body of a pregnant woman is prone to blood clots.
In the EU, this method is usually used to exclude the presence of thrombosis. So, if the values of this study are lowered or are within the normal range, then it can be 100% probable to assert that thrombosis is not the cause of the development of the emerged emergency condition. Therefore, quite often, D-dimer is used in resuscitation, when time is of great importance.
How is the D-dimer assay performed?
This analysis is no different from the usual blood sampling from the vein. Before taking D-dimer, 12 hours before it is forbidden to eat, and the analysis is performed only on an empty stomach.
The collected blood undergoes thorough chemical analysis using special indicators that determine the presence or absence of fibrinogen protein degradation products. Usually it takes no more than 10-15 minutes to get the result, which makes it possible to attribute this type of research to express tests.
Values of D-dimer in healthy people
Usually, the norm of D-dimer in women who do not bear children varies between 400-500 ng / ml. And it is constantly changing, and depends on the phase of the menstrual cycle. At excess 500 ng / ml speak about development of a pathology.
Values of D-dimer in pregnancy
The norm of D-dimer directly depends on the period of pregnancy and changes with the onset of the next trimester. So usually in the first trimester this indicator increases by 1.5 times and can take a value equal to 750 ng / ml. Further with the increase in the term, the value also changes to a larger side.
In the 2nd trimester the D-dimer values can reach 1000 ng / ml, and at the end of the term - increase by 3 times in comparison with the norm, - up to 1500 ng / ml.
If the values of D-dimer exceed these values, then they speak of a predisposition to thrombosis.
Values of D-dimer in IVF
In most cases, IVF is performed by the procedure of superovulation, which leads to an increase in estrogens in the blood. Their increase can provoke the development of thrombosis in women. Therefore, the constant carrying out of the blood test for D-dimer, which in this case plays the role of a marker, is of particular importance.
Usually, after a successful IVF, a certain excess of the D-dimer rate is noted. However, its values are comparable to those that are characteristic for the blood of women who become pregnant naturally.
Thus, the analysis on D-dimer is an excellent method of laboratory research, which will completely eliminate the development of thrombosis, which requires rapid treatment and often leads to the development of emergency conditions. Therefore, every pregnant woman must take this analysis, which helps to identify violations in the blood clotting system.