Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition  2015;18(1):39-47

doi:10.5223/pghn.2015.18.1.39

Laboratory Markers Indicating Gastrointestinal Involvement of Henoch-Schonlein Purpura in Children.

Jeana HONG 1 ; Hye Ran YANG

Affiliations

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Keywords

Purpura; Schonlein-Henoch; Blood coagulation; Inflammation; Fibrin fibrinogen degradation products; Fibrin fragment D; Child

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

MeSH

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine clinically useful biochemical markers reflecting disease activity and/or gastrointestinal (GI) tract involvement in Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP). METHODS: A total of 185 children with HSP and 130 controls were included. Laboratory data indicating inflammation, standard coagulation, and activated coagulation were analyzed for the HSP patients, including measurements of the hemoglobin level, white blood cell (WBC) count, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), platelet count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) level, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and fibrinogen, D-dimer, and fibrin degradation product (FDP) levels. The clinical scores of the skin, joints, abdomen, and kidneys were assessed during the acute and convalescence phases of HSP. RESULTS: The WBC count, ANC, ESR, and CRP, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and FDP levels were significantly higher in the acute phase compared with the convalescent phase of HSP (p<0.05). The total clinical scores were more strongly correlated with the D-dimer (r=0.371, p<0.001) and FDP (r=0.369, p<0.001) levels than with inflammatory markers, such as the WBC count (r=0.241, p=0.001), ANC (r=0.261, p<0.001), and CRP (r=0.260, p<0.001) levels. The patients with GI symptoms had significantly higher ANC (median [interquartile range], 7,138.0 [4,446.4-9,470.0] vs. 5,534.1 [3,263.0-8,153.5], p<0.05) and CRP (0.49 [0.15-1.38] vs. 0.23 [0.01-0.67], p<0.05), D-dimer (2.63 [1.20-4.09] vs. 1.75 [0.62-3.39]), and FDP (7.10 [0.01-13.65] vs. 0.10 [0.01-7.90], p<0.05) levels than those without GI symptoms. CONCLUSION: D-dimer and FDPs are more strongly associated with disease activity and more consistently reflect GI involvement than inflammatory markers during the acute phase of HSP.