Son's Celiac Blood Test

[CMCM]

Since my son had hit his insurance deductible in Dec. and he was having a cholesterol etc. test done as part of a yearly exam, I had the doctor throw in the celiac panel since it would cost next to nothing at that point. He wrote "celiac panel" on the form. When I got to the lab, they wanted to know more specifically, and he said antibody test, basically. So here's what I see on the form with his negative results:

Gliadin AB IgA 4 (negative is <11)

IgA, SERUM 294 (Reference was 81-463 mg/dL) WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS???

(tTG) Ab, IgA <3 (where negative is <5)

Does any of this make sense to those of you who are familiar with the various celiac blood tests? I don't think this is a complete test. It makes no sense to me.

Also...if this is incomplete, why on earth do the labs do it this way?????

[tarnalberry]

It's not the full panel, but it's not bad. That second test is the total serum IgA. You need to know that in order to be able to properly read the anti-gliandin IgA and tissue transglutimase IgA. All of those came back in normal ranges, denoting that he has no serum markers for celiac disease. He may still find gluten causes him problems, but the blood doesn't contain a lot of antibodies in him right now.

[Rachel--24]

Its not the complete panel but it does include the most important tests. The IgG is missing but that is the least specific for Celiac....meaning if its positive it doesnt mean Celiac....but definately an intolerance. The EMA is missing but I think the tTG is the better of the two. The total serem IgA is important because it tells you that you're son is not IgA deficient which could lead to false negatives if he was deficient.

[CMCM]

Thanks for the input! He doesn't really have any symptoms...I just took the opportunity to get in a cheap test since he was having a blood draw for the other things, just to see. I think I'll get him the Enterolab gene test, just to see what it shows....so he'll know whether to be suspicious later on in life in case something comes up.

[2Boys4Me]

Maybe you guys can help me, too. Ty just had his follow up yesterday with the pediatric GI doc. I asked the nurse for a copy of the lab work. Ty's tests were ordered by a pediatrician, mine & Walker's by our family doc, and Glenn's by his doctor. Ty was tested in July, Walker & I in August and Glenn in September. Only Walker and I went to the same lab to get the blood drawn, I have no idea where it gets tested...ie if each lab tests on premises or if they get driven to a central testing lab or what.

Glenn (Dad)

proteins & serology

immunoglobulin A result 2.54 reference range 0.60 - 4.20 g/L

anti-endomysial antibodies negative

screened at a titre of 1 : 2.5

Linda (Mom)

immunoglobulin A result 1.73 reference range 0.60 - 4.20 g/L

anti-endomysial antibodies negative

screened at a titre of 1 : 2.5

Walker (Big brother)

immunoglobulin A result 1.21 reference range 0.40 - 2.80 g/L (ref. range changed because he's smaller??)

anti-endomysial antibodies negative

screened at a titre of 1 : 2.5

Ty (has celiac disease)

immunoglobulin A not tested or else if tested result not in the file

anti-endomysial antibodies 1 : 160

screened at a titre of 1 : 2.5

The nurse suggested that they didn't do the immunoglobulin A because the anti-endomysial antibodies were so high.

Thoughts? Ty doesn't really have any GI symptoms, underweight and anemic (well...he shouldn't be anymore), but the doctor was pleased with results since September...Ty has moved up the scale from scrawny to skinny (doctor's words) his belly is gone, can't see the edge of his scapula on his back anymore, he's gained three & 1/2 pounds and 3/4" taller. The doctor didn't want to do a follow up blood test because he says that he is happy with the progress Ty has made and it was encouraging to me that he thought we were doing a decent job with the diet because of the results indicated by the external exam and suggested that if the diet IS working, as he thinks it is, he doesn't want a over eager lab tech to spot a "residual background glow" instead of the antibody glow and then the tech will feel obliged to report it and we'd get a false positive on the followup blood test. I still wish he'd done it so I could the numbers, but I didn't push it because he and the other doctor seemed so pleased with the progress so far.