Patients who have ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease often report symptoms without showing endoscopic evidence of the disease, and their providers struggle to make sense of the disparity. In a new study, investigators used fecal calprotectin levels to assess symptoms most associated with disease activity.
“A patient will say they’re having lots and lots of symptoms, but we don’t find inflammation during a colonoscopy, which means we need to investigate other causes,” said Kerri Glassner, DO, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York City, who was not involved in the study