False Positive Blood Test?

[emja73]

DD is 3 and has her biopsy tomorrow... what aer they looking for? is it even possible to have a false positive blood test? he said he has to do the biopsy to determine whether it's celiac or not, which makes me wonder if there are false positives? otherwise why do the biopsy? ugh.... I hate having her go under anesthesia (

[CarlaB]

It's my understanding that there are no false positives, yet most docs consider the biopsy to still be the "gold standard" for diagnosis. The biopsy can prove celiac, but cannot rule it out because of it's false negative rate. There's really no easy answer for this question!

[nikki-uk]

DD is 3 and has her biopsy tomorrow... what aer they looking for? is it even possible to have a false positive blood test? he said he has to do the biopsy to determine whether it's celiac or not, which makes me wonder if there are false positives? otherwise why do the biopsy? ugh.... I hate having her go under anesthesia (

They are looking for changes in the lining of her bowel which in coeliac disease is called 'villous atrophy'.

The lining of the bowel is covered in finger like projections (like a shag pile carpet! ) but when you have celiac disease these fingers become blunted and shortened. This stops you fully absorbing all the nutrients you need from food leading to malabsorption, weight loss, diarrhoea (sometimes constipation) and a vast range of symptoms.

Your doc probably wants to do the biopsy as unfortunately the blood tests for celiac disease are notoriously unreliable in small children.

During the procedure the doc will take several small samples which will then be looked at under a powerful microscope ( villous atrophy is not always visible to the naked eye )

Hope that helps!

[flagbabyds]

actually my sister had many false positives, with one time having all of them being positive, but he had the biopsy done and nothing was wrong, then they ran the gene test and she doesn't have the gene! so it is very rare, but can happen, she then had food allergy testing done and those were positive for wheat and rye but not barley.

this is very very very rare according to my doctor, but there is a lab somehwere in california that he says gives a lot false positives, the lab is quest, so he doesn't use that lab, he only uses promethesus labs in san diego.

but i do agree with Carla because most doctors do think that the biopsy is the difinitive test for all and will tell you if she as it. but a lot of times if they don't take enough of the area or don't biopsy the parts taht are atrophed then it might be negative.

[Ursa Major]

If your daughter has the symptoms, it is very unlikely that the blood test result is a false negative. On the other hand, the biopsy may turn out negative, because in a three-year-old there may not be enough damage yet to be seen (which would be a good thing).

I would advise you to try the diet after the biopsy is done (without waiting for the results first), as at your daughter's age the diet is the most valid test.

Molly, your sister may have the gluten sensitivity genes rather than the celiac disease genes. Conventional doctors only test for the celiac disease genes that have been officially identified at this point (but scientists have admitted that there are likely others that are as yet unidentified). If your sister would get tested with Enterolab, she may end up being identified with the gluten sensitivity genes. It would likely be better if she stays away from barley as well, as the allergy tests are also very unreliable. Since gluten intolerance is NOT an allergy, but an intolerance, if she is intolerant to barley, it wouldn't show up.

Most celiacs don't show an allergy or an intolerance to any of the gluten containing grains, because those only show immediate reactions and won't show anything you get a delayed reaction from.

Just thought I'd mention that.