C-reactive protein and disease activity in children with Crohn's disease

Abstract

Background and Aims: Various markers are used to monitor disease activity in paediatric Crohn's disease (CD). We sought to determine whether C-reactive protein measurement was useful in the assessment of disease activity in children with CD, with comparison to the other markers of disease activity. Methods: Details of disease activity, C-reactive protein and inflammatory markers were obtained retrospectively from the records of 100 outpatient visits by 63 children with CD. Results: The children were 12.6 (±3.4) years of age. C-reactive protein values correlated positively with disease activity (P < 0.0001). Children with inactive disease (according to pediatric CD activity index scores) had significantly lower C-reactive protein values compared to children with mild disease (P < 0.001). In addition, C-reactive protein values correlated well with ESR (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: C-reactive protein measurements provided useful information in assessing children with CD and correlated well with a validated measure of disease activity. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.