Does An Egd Look For Celiac

[Bailey1962]

Hello, I had an EGD due to GERD last year. I have recently met with a Naturopathic doctor who suspects I have an issue with gluten, as the drugs for GERD just do not help. I'm wondering if celiacs would have been detected on my EGD even if the doctor was not looking for it.

Thanks all. BTW, I'm new here and glad to have found you all. There is much to learn about gluten free living.

[Lisa]

An EGD may show:

Diverticula (abnormal pouches in the lining of the intestines)

Esophageal rings

Esophagitis

Gastric masses

Gastric ulcer

Inflammation of the stomach and duodenum

Mallory-Weiss syndrome (tear)

Obstruction

Strictures

Tumors

Ulcers (acute or chronic)

And endoscopy exam with biopsy's are generally used in exploritory testing for Celiac Disease. Finding inflammation may send you doctor toward a step closer to a diagnosis of Celiac.

[GFinDC]

The way I have read it, the endoscopy for celiac is done to take 4 or 5 samples of tissue from different areas of the intestine. The reason they would take multiple samples is that the villi damage can be patchy, and a single sample may miss it. I have read several times on the board that people have had endoscopies and the GI only took 1 sample or 2. So, it seems taking multiple samples is not a standard thing they do in most endoscopies. You could contact your doctor who did the endoscopy and ask them if they looked for celiac, as they may not have considered it. If they did look for celiac, you might want to ask how many biopsy samples they took also.

There are blood antibody tests you can take also, which are non-invasive except for a blood draw. Blood antibody testing seems like it would be a good next step vs a new endoscopy.

[jerseyangel]

Hello, I had an EGD due to GERD last year. I have recently met with a Naturopathic doctor who suspects I have an issue with gluten, as the drugs for GERD just do not help. I'm wondering if celiacs would have been detected on my EGD even if the doctor was not looking for it.

Thanks all. BTW, I'm new here and glad to have found you all. There is much to learn about gluten free living.

If the doctor did not take samples during the procedure, he could very well have missed Celiac (if it's there) since the damage tends to be microscopic and visible only under a microscope.

Sometimes, damage or another irregularity will be visible to the doctor via the scope, and in that case they should take samples from those spots to be biopsied.

If you are currently still on a gluten-containing diet, you can have a Celiac Blood Panel run, which consists of these tests--

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

If you're already avoiding gluten, these tests will not be accurate.