My 2.5 year old results

[Lakesmom]

Hi I’m new to all of this. At my daughters last checkup we decided to draw blood. She is tiny and underweight for her age, she’s picky with most foods and has an extended tummy. Her test results came back looking As though she has celiacs. we will be seeing a ped gastro soon but I guess I was just looking at some insight on these test results? 
 

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE AB,IGA >250.00

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE AB,IGG  9.30 normal

DEAMINATED GLIADIN PEP IGA > 250.00 high

DEAMINATED GLIADIN PEP IGG > 250.00 high

ENDOMYSIAL AB, IGA TITER    1:160 abnormal

ENDOMYSIAL AB, IGA SCREEN - DETECTED

The only other things in her blood work that was off was her urea nitrogen/creatinine ratio was high and also her albumin/globulin ratio was high. 

Are these all typical for celiacs diagnoses? She just seems so young and numbers so high. Does the higher number mean it’s worse off or causes more damage? Anyone with a toddler going through the same?

 Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

[GFinDC]

Hi

The DGP IgA and DGP IgG are both high.  Usually there is a typical range the lab uses to rate the readings.  Anyway, she most likely has celiac disease.  the usual next step is an endoscopy with biopsies to check for small intestine damage consistent with celiac disease.  But she is young and with the Covid thing they may decide not to do the endoscopy.

She sounds like she is typical of the pictures of young people in the past with celiac disease who have a distended belly and are skinny.  She may have trouble with her teeth due to malabsorption.  I suggest you ask her doctor if eh can diagnose her without the endoscopy based on improvement in health after starting the gluten-free diet.

If they insist on the endoscopy she needs to continue to eat a small amount of gluten each day until the endoscopy is done.

[RMJ]

The higher numbers do not necessarily correlate with a higher degree of damage in the intestine.

What is the normal range for those lab results? Different labs use different units so the normal range varies from lab to lab.

In Europe, if children have antibodies that are more than ten times the upper limit of the normal range and EMA (endomysial antigen) positive, they can be diagnosed as having celiac disease without a biopsy.

Be sure to continue feeding her gluten until your appointment with the ped gastro, in case he wants to do additional testing.

[trents]

The TTG-IGA is the most specific but the least sensitive test for the antibodies produced by damage to the intestinal lining by celiac disease. It looks for everything like she has celiac disease.

"her urea nitrogen/creatinine ratio was high" - This can be caused by dehydration or other problems that limit blood flow to the kidneys, even gastro intestinal bleeding.

"her albumin/globulin ratio was high" - This can be due to kidney, liver, or intestinal disease.

All of this could possibly be related to celiac disease but it would be good to get the systems thoroughly checked out.

It seems obvious to me your daughter has celiac disease and I would not wait to put her on a gluten-free diet unless the pediatric GI doc wants to do an endoscopy/biopsy to confirm and can get her in soon.

Edited April 24, 2021 by trents

[knitty kitty]

Thiamine can help lower creatinine and albumin levels.  

Thiamine is Vitamin B1.  Malabsorption of the water soluble B vitamins is common in the newly diagnosed.  The water soluble B vitamins and Vitamin C need to be replenished every day.  Bloated belly is a symptom of Thiamine and Niacin (Vitamin B3) deficiencies.  Picky eating can be a symptom of Thiamine deficiency in children.

Have your daughter checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies as part of proper follow up care for Celiac Disease.