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Fecal Calprotectin Test

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/31/2013 5:47 AM (GMT 0)
I am freaking out. My ten year old son was diagnosed with Crohn's in April of 2012. He did well on mesalmine and VLS3 until October of 2012.
Diagnosed with C-Diff that went into a major flare, eight day stay in the hospital and missing eight weeks of school. We elected to start Remicade in fear of having to remove his colon. We have seen three Pediactric GI's and two have said not sure he has Crohn's might be UC however his primary GI says 98% he believe he has Crohn's. He had a scope on June 4, 2013 at Emory and the doctor was shocked that the scope and biopsies came back clear. We even considered taking him off Remicade however wanting to give the gut at least a year to heal and thank goodness we did not. I have been reading alot about Cal Protectin Test and asked the Emory doctor if we would call an order in. (Our primary GI does not use the test) We received the test result Monday and is level is over 1250!!! I am in total fear. Of course I have requested the doctor to call the order again however still have not heard back from them. I would like to use another Lab other than Lab Corp. however that is the only lab available in Columbia, SC. I am devastated to thing internal damage is being done and he could flare anyway. I am so confused.
Posted 7/31/2013 12:33 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry your son has Crohn's, but I'm glad you found this forum. It is great that you didn't take him off remicade.

You should know that a colonoscopy cannot reach the entire bowel, and Crohn's could be active beyond the point at which the scope could pass. That may be why the fecal calprotectin test indicated inflammation. Has your son had a small bowel follow through test (a barium x-ray)? Or perhaps a MRI could indicate what is going on.
Posted 7/31/2013 1:10 PM (GMT 0)
No however he did have a pill cam test however that was in April of 2012. He is on 10 so doctor doctor did not want to put him through an MRI .
Posted 7/31/2013 1:22 PM (GMT 0)
It may well help you to cope if you have another fecal calprotectin test run. Compare the two results. You may be very relieved to find that the "score" is going down indicating a reduction in inflamation rather than elevating indicating a rise in inflammation.

I corresponed a long time several years ago now one of the developers of the fecal calprotection test. He was Norwegian. His intent, and that of his fellow developer, was to provide an inexpensive, easy at-home test that could be run whenever the PATIENT felt a change in their disease status, a way to determine if they were responding to a medication or not.

Of course, once we Americans got a hold of it.... more is always better, the American way, right?

So use the fecal calprotectin test to determine which way your Crohn's treatment is moving you. Keep in mind the fecal calprotectin test can only indicate inflammation, not WHY the inflammation. The inflammation COULD be due to something else going on.
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