Clinical value of fecal calprotectin in assisting diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases in children

WANG Wenyu; LIU Lianhua; WU Ying; TENG Teng; DENG Zhaohui

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-3806.2025.05.16

Abstract：Objective To explore the clinical value of fecal calprotectin(FCP)in assisting diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases in children.Methods The clinical data of 165 pediatric patients who visited their doctors in Shanghai Children's Medical Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Department of Gastroenterology,Guizhou Branch of Shanghai Children's Medical Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from June 2023 to June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.The pediatric patients were divided into upper gastrointestinal tract inflammatory disease group(66 cases)and functional gastrointestinal disease group(99 cases).Fecal samples were collected for detection of FCP,and the differences between groups were compared.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of FCP in diagnosing upper gastrointestinal tract inflammatory disease in the children.Results The level of FCP in the upper gastrointestinal tract inflammatory disease group[78.38(16.64,175.70)μg/g]was higher than that in the functional gastrointestinal disease group[14.90(5.00,33.76)μg/g],with a statistically significant difference between the two groups(Z=5.230,P＜0.001).FCP could assist diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal tract inflammatory disease in the children[AUC(95％CI)=0.74(0.66-0.82),P＜0.001]with the optimum cut-off value of 96.32 μg/g,and the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 50.00％and 91.90％,respectively.Conclusion FCP,as a non-invasive indicator,has clinical value in the auxiliary diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal tract inflammatory disease in children.