Celiac.com 07/13/2017 - Until recently, duodenal biopsy was considered the gold standard for diagnosing celiac disease, but that is changing.
A number of studies have shown that celiac disease can be diagnosed using serological tests alone, but many clinicians have yet to embrace this approach.
In both retrospective and prospective studies, one research team showed that certain IgA-tissue transglutaminase antibodies levels can predict celiac disease in adults 100% of the time.
After making some adjustments to the analytical method for measuring the antibody, a team of researchers recently set out to to determine whether such serum tests can reliably diagnose celiac disease in large numbers adult patients without the need for small bowel biopsy.
The research team included GKT...

Celiac.com 08/07/2017 - The guidelines of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition allow for diagnosis of celiac disease without biopsies in children with symptoms and levels of immunoglobulin A against tissue-transglutaminase (TGA-IgA) 10-fold or more the upper limit of normal (ULN), confirmed by detection of endomysium antibodies (EMA) and positivity for HLA-DQ2/DQ8.
To validate this approach, a team of researchers recently performed a large, international prospective study. The primary goal was to see if the non-biopsy approach can identify children with celiac disease with a positive predictive value (PPV) above 99% in clinical practice. That means they want to make sure doctors can get it right at least 99 times out of 100 in the office. They...

Celiac.com 01/07/2019 - Researchers have made progress in spotting celiac disease without biopsy in children with certain parameters. Can the same be done for adults? A team of researchers recently set out to evaluate the accuracy of serology-based criteria in adults with variable pre-test probabilities for celiac disease. The research team included V Fuchs, K Kurppa, H Huhtala, K Laurila, M Mäki, P Collin, T Salmi, L Luostarinen, P Saavalainen, and K Kaukinen.
New criteria for diagnosing celiac disease in children allow doctors to forgo duodenal biopsies in children who have symptoms, positive blood tests, and celiac disease-associated genes. 
There’s currently no good data on whether such an approach might work for adults with certain clinical presentations of celiac dis...

Celiac.com 03/02/2020 - Current practice of using biopsy to diagnose children with celiac disease is changing to diagnosis without biopsy. 
The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) recently issued new guidelines that recommend doctors diagnosing celiac disease omit biopsy in favor of a two-stage blood test, for the majority of children suspected of having the disease.
New guidelines for diagnosing celiac disease in children call for avoiding biopsies in favor of a two-stage blood test. Until now, about half of all kids diagnosed with celiac disease got a biopsy. The new guidelines mean that nearly all kids will avoid the procedure in favor of a two-stage blood test.
The new guidelines recommend that doctors:
Conduct ...