Fecal calprotectin to diagnose crohns?

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Hi everyone,
My GI had me do a fecal calpotectin test. I'm wondering if I need to be in a flare for it to be elevated or if it would still show inflammation even though not in a flare? Please help! Thanks
 
Fecal calprotectin can be elevated without obvious GI symptoms like pain, diarrhea, bloody stools, etc. However I don't think elevated calprotectin levels are considered sufficient evidence for a diagnosis of Crohn's. I believe a diagnosis requires endoscopy/colonoscopy and biopsies.
 
The fecal cal would be a tool to see if endoscopy/colonoscopy were necessary. You would need to have the scopes and biopsy in order to get a diagnosis.

Other things can cause a high fecal cal. Taking NSAIDS like Advil, stomach virus or infections would all elevate your fecal cal numbers.

My son's fecal cal number was 586 when he was in remission and had no signs of illness other than he was having a hard time keeping weight on. So in his case, he has had very elevated levels while not being in a flare and feeling pretty well. Anything above a 50 is considered abnormal.
 
Hi Natnels- My daughter had elevated fecal calprotectin. It tested at 380, so her GI thought she had crohn's. But her endoscopy, colonoscopy, biopsies and MRI Enterography (MRE) all came back negative, so she does not seem to have crohn's, at least not now.

From what I can glean through much research and discussion with GI's, is that fecal calprotectin is a useful diagnostic tool to suggest that further testing is necessary. If you already have a diagnosis it is a useful marker to suggest when activity is present. But by itself with no other indications, it does not definitely mean that you have inflammation present.
 
I had come infection shown on blood test,
second in my stool test, was 450
third thing that happened, colonoscopy

Ended up with diagnosis crohns

Think it is standard prosedure to do it in these steps,
but cant say for sure,
only have my own experiences with this.

GL
 

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