18 Month Old Daughter's Celiac Panel

[jensign43]

Hi! We are in the process of trying to get a proper diagnosis for our 18 month old. Her is her first celiac panel results:

Deamidated Gliadin Abs, Iga 1 0-19 units

Deamidated Gliadin Abs, Igg 3 0-19 units

T-Transglutaminase (Ttg) Iga <2 0-3

T-Transglutaminase (Ttg) Igg 6 0-5 U/mL

Endomysial Antibody Iga Negative Negative

Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum 19 20-101 mg/dL

Any thoughts?

[cyclinglady]

Looks like your daughter is IGA deficient thus making the IGA tests (TTG and DGP IGA) invalid (common in those with celiac disease). You did get one positive. I am not a doctor, but I am one of the wacky ones who only had a positive on the DGP IGA and the rest were negative yet I had a Marsh Stage IIIB biopsy.

Babies are tough to diagnose. Let's hope another parent can provide some input. But I would say that you can not rule out celiac disease. Keep her on gluten until all testing is complete.

What are her symptoms?

[jensign43]

She's irritable, avoiding gluten-heavy foods, diarrhea & constipation. She also has an awful distended belly, it looks like you could pop it like a balloon. She's only gained one pound in the past year and she's actually lost weight between her last two check ups. She's actually fell under 0% for her weight now.

[cyclinglady]

Wow! I am not a doctor, but that sounds like celiac disease. What does your doctor say?

Anyone else in your family with celiac disease or have symptoms that could be celiac disease?

[nvsmom]

I agree!  That looks like celiac disease to me too.

 

Since her IgA was low, the only tests that are valid are the tTG IgG and DGP IgG.  You could also ask for the EMA IgG (which tends to show more advanced damage and is often negative in young children) and the endoscopic biopsy (6+samples taken).

 

The tTG igG is not a high positive, but a positive is a positive. The tTG IgG is 95% specific to celiac disease.  That means that there is a 5% chance that a positive is caused by something other than celiac disease (usually diabetes, crohn's, colitis, liver disease, thyroiditis, or a serious infection) but her symptoms are pretty classic celiac disease symptoms.  In this case, I would guess that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.  

 

All her siblings, parents and even grandparents should be checked for celiac disease too, and rechecked every 2 years or so.  It runs in families and can appear at any age.

 

Best wishes.

[Dougie]

My 7 year old daughter was diagnosed at 18 months. I am not sure what your result figure means but MI am sure your doctor would tell if it is Celiac . Then they would suggest the second step of a biopsy. A blood test may not mean you have Celiac disease.

[ravenwoodglass]

My 7 year old daughter was diagnosed at 18 months. I am not sure what your result figure means but MI am sure your doctor would tell if it is Celiac . Then they would suggest the second step of a biopsy. A blood test may not mean you have Celiac disease.

It is very rare that a false positive with a celiac panel would occur. False negatives on biopsy are more common though as damage can be patchy and be missed. Positive blood test trumps negative biopsy and folks that happens to should always give the diet a shot and see if it helps their symptoms as positive blood test and relief on the diet is pretty diagnostic.