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BACKGROUND median, 50.6 mo; interquartile range IQR, 32.8-76.0 mo) managed at a tertiary medical center in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, from 2003 through 2015. Patients were included if they had 1 or more fecal calprotectin measurements made 3 months or more after their diagnosis. We collected clinical data and fecal calprotectin measurements and analyzed these data to identify factors associated with a composite outcome of progression in Montreal behavior, hospitalization, and resection. RESULTS: An increased level of fecal calprotectin at the index visit was associated with subsequent progression of CD, independent of symptoms or disease location. The median level of fecal calprotectin at the index visit was 432 μg/g (IQR, 1365-998 μg/g) in patients who reached the composite end point vs 180 μg/g (IQR, 50-665 μg/g) in patients who did not. In multivariable analysis, a cut-off value of 115 μg/g calprotectin identified patients who met the end point with a hazard ratio of 2.4 (95% CI, 1.8-3.1; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: In a retrospective analysis of patients with CD, we found that measurements of fecal calprotectin made during routine monitoring can identify patients at risk for disease progression, independent of symptoms or disease location. It is therefore important to screen asymptomatic patients for mucosal inflammation and pursue complete resolution of inflammation.
Kennedy et al. (Thu,) studied this question.