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Calprotectin levels

hi all. Im aware that the usual healthy range for a faecal calprotectin test is 0-50. But once the range is exceeded, does anyone know how meaningful the numbers are?

I am going through a flare and while I'm not feeling great (occasional cramping and diarrhea), I feel like I have had it worse in the past, life at the moment goes on, I have been able to go to work and even had some normal BMs. But last week I got a FC of 3750, which seems terrifyingly high! (in the past, during a flare, I have had 1400 and 1900).
 

Scipio

Well-known member
Location
San Diego
The FCP numbers above the 50 cut-off generally align with the severity/extent of inflammation. But there is considerable variation. A reading of 3750 might usually indicate worse inflammation than a reading of half that. But it can also be affected by other sources of variability such as the location of the inflammatory lesions (how far "upstream" they are) and sampling error or variation when collecting and processing the fecal specimen.

Due to theses variabilities perhaps it's better to focus on trends over time more than any one FCP reading.
 
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