Endoscopy Results

[dsepa730]

Hi if someone could help me?? I went to a gastro doctor because I was having some GI problems and he tested me for Celiac disease one of the tests the Transglutaminase IgA came back extremely high, so they told me I needed a Endosocopy , I got one I got the results yesterday and he said that they are negative, but it still concerned because my blood results were high? Now tomorrow I have to have a small bowel barium xray series, to look at my all of my small intestines. Anyone ever have a negative endoscopy and then later get diagnosed with Celiac Disease?

[mushroom]

Hi if someone could help me?? I went to a gastro doctor because I was having some GI problems and he tested me for Celiac disease one of the tests the Transglutaminase IgA came back extremely high, so they told me I needed a Endosocopy , I got one I got the results yesterday and he said that they are negative, but it still concerned because my blood results were high? Now tomorrow I have to have a small bowel barium xray series, to look at my all of my small intestines. Anyone ever have a negative endoscopy and then later get diagnosed with Celiac Disease?

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

There are over 30 feet of small intestine in your body, and the damage gluten causes can be patchy and is easily missed if the doctor does not take the samples from the right places. So yes, a false negative is not uncommon on endoscopy. If the procedure tomorrow does not produce any positive results I would still give the gluten-free diet a good three-month trial, with a positive TtG result. Some doctors will diagnose based on positive blood work and a positive response to gluten withdrawal.

[Roda]

If they don't take enough samples or biopsy the exact areas (damage can be patchy and bowel can appear visually normal and have villi damage under the microscope) the biopsy could be a false negative. If your numbers are that elevated then it is pretty supportive of celiac. I went for an egd today (it's been 1 1/2 years since my last one that was positive on biopsy) and I'm actually worried that my biopsy is going to still show damage. I'm feeling a little discouraged. GI doc told me I have a stomach ulcer and that my small bowel was still inflamed, so I guess I'll know soon. My IgA tTg and AGA was negative in Feb. but the IgG AGA was still positive. I don't see how the small bowel x-ray is going to help in the celiac diagnosis but they will be able to tell if there are anything that anatomically looks abnormal so it won't hurt to be thorough. It depends on the person, but don't be alarmed if the procedure could last a few hours. They will give you some barium to drink and take an x-ray of your abdomen at timed intervals until the contrast gets to and passes into the large intestine. They may ask you to walk around between x-rays. At that point they may put you under fluoroscopy and take detailed pictures of the termial ileum (the junction between the small and large bowel.) To do this they may push on your belly in the right lower abomen with their hand with a lead glove on or a weird paddle looking device with a balloon on it. It helps separate the loops of bowel to see better. Good luck on your test. Make sure you stay well hydrated after the exam so the barium will pass. If you don't drink enough it could constipate. My gi doc wants me to eventually have a CT enterography exam since as celiacs we are an increase risk for bowel cancer.

[MartialArtist]

one of the tests the Transglutaminase IgA came back extremely high

As you can see from my info on the left, I am also new to this, but this is what I have been told by my doctor's office (and others before):

The TTG IgA and TTG IgG tests are highly specific (like 95%) meaning that if those test come back positive, you have an extremely high likelihood of having celiac disease. The Gliadin IgG test is only 75% specific, meaning that 25% of people who get a positive result on that test are false positives for celiac (not saying they might be gluten sensitive but they might not have the disease). The Gliadin IgA test is 80% specific.

So if it's the TTG IgA (tissue Transglutaminase IgA) that came back high, which it sounds like it is, I'd be planning on figuring out the gluten-free diet if I were you. But did they do these other tests and find a negative result? If only one test is positive and the biopsy was negative too, I might be inclined to seek more medical opinions before changing anything -- especially since you can only get true test results if you're NOT gluten free when you do them.

Just 2 cents worth from someone who has no ambiguity in her results so is gonna have to do this gluten-free deal no-holds-barred now...