Help! Where do you get your Faecal Calprotectin test done?

[helena101]

If you live in Europe and do faecal Calprotectin tests PLEASE let me know the name of the lab (plus whatever additional contact info you have, either address, phone number, email, website).
After getting some bizarre results from the lab I normally use, I sent a sample to two labs simultaneously, and now I have gotten two completely different sets of results. My bloods are normal, but if my Calprotectin is as high as the one lab suggests I am not adequately medicated to control my CD. I need to find a third lab to find out which of the two labs is giving me the correct picture.

 

[Jennifer]

Sorry for the late response helena101. I'm sorry I live nowhere near you. Your doctor's office and the labs you've gone to should know of other labs where you can go. My guess is you'll still wind up with a different reading. Some labs "normal" range are not the same so its possible that that may be the issue you're dealing with.

 

[helena101]

Hi Crabby,
Thanks. Both labs list <50 as normal. One lab said I had a Calprotectin of 143 and the other 530 from the SAME stool sample. So I repeated the experiment and got 159 and 553...
It's a pretty big difference. The 150 readings mean remission, the 550s don't. I know the third lab won't be the same, but hopefully it will be closer to one of the two. I don't really see how both results could be right, even taking into account different testing methods.

 

[Jennifer]

What has your GI said about the crazy results?

 

[helena101]

He doesn't really know what to make of it either. He believes the low ones, but isn't so sure. Because I had gotten some high results recently from that same lab that he and I also didn't believe, and that's why I sent a sample to two labs at once. I thought they were getting the HIGH readings wrong. Now it's looking like they may be getting the LOW readings wrong in fact. Or all of them. Anyhow, I'm not really comfortable with just ignoring any results that seem to indicate that I might not be doing so well.

 

[helena101]

I found a third reputable lab, so I'm sending off the samples today.

 

[Jennifer]

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[helena101]

So I finally got my results from the three tests:
Lab 1 (in UK): 90
Lab 2 (in Greece): 365
Lab 3 (in UK): well there was some confusion here, just because nothing can go smoothly EVER. The sample was held up at customs and didn't arrive on time to the lab. As soon as I realized this had happened I sent out a new sample. They were kind enough to test both samples.
sample A: 22 (but this was an 8-day old sample, and Calprotectin is supposedly stable at room temp for 7 days, then it starts breaking down).
Sample B: 35. This is not a true comparison with the other two labs, as it was taken 6 days later.
However it does look as though the Greek lab is off, presumably because the test is so new here they have only ever run my samples!
The only other possibility is that something happens in transit, making the Calprotectin break down on its way to England. It's pretty unlikely, as its cold now, so it doesn't seem possible that the sample would be exposed to temperatures over 30 degrees. But, next time I am in the UK I will take a sample and deliver it myself to the lab. If my results then are fairly similar to a recent test, I'll be 100% happy that my results are a clear reflection of disease activity. For now I'm 95%, but that will have to do, as there is no other way for me to confirm this...