Serial fecal calprotectin in the prediction of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · May 2018 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Prospective case-control study of 100 high-risk preterm neonates examining whether serial fecal calprotectin measurements can predict necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) before symptom onset. Ten infants developed NEC; researchers analyzed calprotectin trends in the week preceding diagnosis compared to matched controls.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Purpose
To investigate whether serial measurements of fecal calprotectin concentrations enable us to identify infants who will develop NEC prior to development of symptoms.
Methods
Prospective matched case–control study including 100 high-risk neonates. High risk includes 1) gestational age (GA) ≤30 weeks, 2) birth-weight (BW) ≤1000 g, 3) GA 30–32 weeks and BW ≤1250 g, 4) born from a mother who received indomethacin for tocolysis. We matched every NEC subject with three controls for birth weight and gestational age. Fecal calprotectin was measured twice a week from day one until five weeks after birth or until NEC development. We analyzed differences in fecal calprotectin between NEC subjects and controls in the week preceding NEC onset and course of fecal calprotectin within subjects who developed NEC.
Results
Of 100 included patients, ten (median GA 27.5 weeks [24.6–29.4], BW 1010 g [775–1630]) developed NEC. The median calprotectin concentration in all samples combined was 332 μg/g [