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Endoscopy Vs. Biopsy- Do I Need Both?

mpgirl089

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mpgirl089 Newbie
mpgirl089
Posted

Hi everyone!

I'm going in for an endoscopy soon to check for celiac, scheduled by my GI doc, but I'm a little confused about the difference between a biopsy and endoscopy. From what I've been reading on here and other celiac sites, it sounds like most people have gotten diagnosed by a biopsy, but my doc just said "endoscopy" and didn't mention a biopsy. Do the two always go hand-in-hand? And if not, do I need a biopsy to diagnose for celiac, or will and endoscopy work as well?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question...I'm still kinda new to all this stuff, and I want to make sure they're doing the correct (and best) procedures on me..

Thanks !!

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted
Hi everyone!

I'm going in for an endoscopy soon to check for celiac, scheduled by my GI doc, but I'm a little confused about the difference between a biopsy and endoscopy. From what I've been reading on here and other celiac sites, it sounds like most people have gotten diagnosed by a biopsy, but my doc just said "endoscopy" and didn't mention a biopsy. Do the two always go hand-in-hand? And if not, do I need a biopsy to diagnose for celiac, or will and endoscopy work as well?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question...I'm still kinda new to all this stuff, and I want to make sure they're doing the correct (and best) procedures on me..

Thanks !!

The main reason for doing an endoscopy when celiac is suspected is not just to look for inflammation and other visible (to the naked eye) signs of intestinal damage, but also to take biopsies to examine under the microscope to examine the villi. It is important that the doctor should take at least five samples of different areas of the small intestine, because the damage can be patchy and easily missed. This is why sometimes the biopsies can show up negative because, the right areas were not biopsied. A skilled GI should be able to identify suspicious-looking areas of the intestine to be biopsied. Make sure that your GI is going to take several different biopsy specimens.

And there is no such thing as a dumb question :D

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted
Hi everyone!

I'm going in for an endoscopy soon to check for celiac, scheduled by my GI doc, but I'm a little confused about the difference between a biopsy and endoscopy. From what I've been reading on here and other celiac sites, it sounds like most people have gotten diagnosed by a biopsy, but my doc just said "endoscopy" and didn't mention a biopsy. Do the two always go hand-in-hand? And if not, do I need a biopsy to diagnose for celiac, or will and endoscopy work as well?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question...I'm still kinda new to all this stuff, and I want to make sure they're doing the correct (and best) procedures on me..

Thanks !!

The main reason for doing an endoscopy when celiac is suspected is not just to look for inflammation and other visible (to the naked eye) signs of intestinal damage, but also to take biopsies to examine under the microscope to examine the villi. It is important that the doctor should take at least five samples of different areas of the small intestine, because the damage can be patchy and easily missed. This is why sometimes the biopsies can show up negative, because the right areas were not biopsied. A skilled GI should be able to identify suspicious-looking areas of the intestine to be biopsied. Make sure that your GI is going to take several different biopsy specimens.

And there is no such thing as a dumb question :D

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JillianLindsay Enthusiast
JillianLindsay
Posted

The biopsies are taken during the endoscopy so it's really only one procedure. So yes, it's important to have them both :)

No such thing as a dumb question -- for every person who asks a question, chances are at least 10 others were wondering the same thing.

Good luck!

Jillian

Hi everyone!

I'm going in for an endoscopy soon to check for celiac, scheduled by my GI doc, but I'm a little confused about the difference between a biopsy and endoscopy. From what I've been reading on here and other celiac sites, it sounds like most people have gotten diagnosed by a biopsy, but my doc just said "endoscopy" and didn't mention a biopsy. Do the two always go hand-in-hand? And if not, do I need a biopsy to diagnose for celiac, or will and endoscopy work as well?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question...I'm still kinda new to all this stuff, and I want to make sure they're doing the correct (and best) procedures on me..

Thanks !!

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mpgirl089 Newbie
mpgirl089
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Posted

Great, thanks so much!! Sometimes it's confusing when those silly docs don't explain everything. :-P You guys are the best!!

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