Fecal calprotectin in child

[RNmommy2four]

Hi, my husband has diagnosed Crohn's Disease and our five year old just started having symptoms. Her fecal calprotectin level was around 1400 and she has been scheduled for an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. With her dad's history and her symptoms, I'm leaning towards Crohn's, but has anyone had levels this high and not had it be some type of chronic condition?

 

[my little penguin]

There is a parents group here
http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

You will get more responses from parents of kids with Ibd
1400 is pretty high

Tagging Crohnsinct maya142
Jmrogers
Clash
Tesscom

 

[RNmommy2four]

Thank you, I'll ask there!

 

[Clash]

Hi. My son has really high fecal calprotectin numbers when in a flare, 1700+. But for the majority of the time he has had active CD simmering which keeps his numbers around 300.

Here is an excerpt from a paper that discusses the results of fecal calprotectin with Infectious diarrhea

The data include 451 evaluations for 153 individuals across 3 different time points. The fecal calprotectin level was higher in patients with Salmonella infection (median with range 765 [252-1246] μg/g) or Campylobacter infection (689 [307-1046] μg/g) compared with patients with rotavirus infection (89 [11-426] μg/g), norovirus infection (93 [25-405] μg/g), or adenovirus infection (95 [65-224] μg/g). Fecal calprotectin concentrations were elevated in patients with severe (843 [284-1246] μg/g) or moderate (402 [71-995] μg/g) disease activity compared with those with mild (87 [11-438] μg/g) disease activity (P < 0.05). GEE analysis suggests that fecal calprotectin is correlated with clinical severity (e.g., Vesikari score) and may provide information for disease management.

Source

 

[Maya142]

Like Clash said, there are certain infections that can raise FC. 1400 is quite high though had given your kiddo has a dad with Crohn's I'd suspect that too .

Has your GI checked for infections? Typically, stool tests are done to rule them out.

NSAID use can also raise FC.

I hope the colonoscopy and endoscopy go well. For most kiddos, the prep is the hardest part - the actual procedure is just a nap! Good luck!

 

[RNmommy2four]

All stool tests and blood work were normal except for the fecal calprotectin. She just started presenting with fever and bloody stools. They were sure she was constipated, had us do miralax, blood lessened over time. Ablout a month later, she spiked another fever and then had bloody stools that lasted about two weeks before resolving. She is currently not having any noticeable blood and I feel good about the direction we are heading as far as diagnostic testing. It just breaks my heart to think she could be dealing with this already.

 

[crohnsinct]

IBD would be my number one suspect. However, when I was desperately trying to find other things my younger daughter's FC could be due to I found quite a list.

The more popular causes are NSAID use (although not typically over 1000), infection, milk protein allergy, celiac (although a high FC is not needed for a celiac dx and blood is not common).

I think it is good that you are moving forward with testing.

IBD in kids is a bit different than adults. Hang in there and ask any questions you have. This is a great group for information and support!

 

[crohnsinct]

PS: there has been one member here who had a son with a high FC and it turned out he did not have IBD. I don't think they ever identified the cause and I think he went on to be fine. Maree. She isn't around much anymore but if you go to the member directory and look for threads started by her you could see her thread.