My Ct Scan Showed An Enlarged Pulmonary Artery And They Said I Have Pulmonary Htn. I See The Cardiologist In I Also Had A Uti Diagnosed At That Visit. Why Would My Dimer Be So High With No Clot?

Posted on Fri, 31 Aug 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 Answered on

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 Last reviewed on

Question : I have Leiden factor 5 diagnosed through a genetic lab test ordered by my ortho doc. I have never had a clot and I am not on blood thinners. I went to the ER for sob and pain was in my left lung (felt in my back) with inspiration. My ekg and troponin levels were normal. MY ddimer was 2700. They did ultrasounds of both legs. No clots. My cat scan showed an enlarged pulmonary artery and they said I have pulmonary htn. I see the cardiologist in I also had a uti diagnosed at that visit. Why would my ddimer be so high with no clot? I am a nurse but this is terrifying.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (36 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that D -dimmer is a non-specific test for pulmonary embolism.

This means that its levels may be high in other conditions like lung inflammation pulmonary edema, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, etc. without the presence of pulmonary embolism.

So, just relax and please don't worry about it as the chest angio CT scan has already excluded pulmonary embolism.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Wishing all the best,
Thanks
Dr.Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee