Trying To Understand What Is Considered Positive Bloodwork

[carecare]

Hi all,

I've been reading different posts on blood work because I'm still trying to understand what my daughter's blood work means. So, even though my then 11 yr old daughter's Antigliadin AB-IGA at 47 was flagged as high and the blood work was labeled as abnormal because of it, most doctors don't consider it as having a problem with gluten if all the other parts of the blood work for celiac is normal? Back 5 - 6 yrs ago when she had the test I was told it was all normal...until my husband noticed a significant improvement in his health going gluten free. It lead me to ask for the results of the test a few months ago. I was surprised to see it labeled as abnormal...and to see the reason was because of the high antigliadin AB-IGA. Doing lots of reading on what the antigliadin ab-iga means I found articles stating that a positive antigliadin ab-iga reading meant that a very high percentage of those individuals do indeed have celiac disease. I can't remember the percentage...but it was like high 90's in one of the articles.

So, I'm confused really. I was never told to have my daughter avoid gluten. Never asked to consider doing a biopsy. But isn't the antigliadin ab-iga marker an indication her body is indeed reacting to gluten?

Also, why if a person tests positive with a blood test would they need a biopsy to confirm....because isn't a positive blood test pretty hard evidence you have celiac?

CC

[ravenwoodglass]

So, I'm confused really. I was never told to have my daughter avoid gluten. Never asked to consider doing a biopsy. But isn't the antigliadin ab-iga marker an indication her body is indeed reacting to gluten?

Also, why if a person tests positive with a blood test would they need a biopsy to confirm....because isn't a positive blood test pretty hard evidence you have celiac?

CC

Yes that is an indication that she is celiac. You doctor must have missed it or he or she is not knowledgable about the disease. Most US doctors know very little about it. GI doctors want a biopsy to confirm because that is the way it has been done for so long, IMHO. Unfortunately biopsy does also have a high rate of false negatives for a variety of reasons so it really is up to you whether to have one done or not. That said at her age she would need to have precautions taken at school so a positive 'gold standard' diagnosis would be helpful with that IF your ped will not diagnose based on symptoms, positive blood work and response to the diet. If your husband is celiac there is a real good chance she is to. Your doctor that did the original testing really dropped the ball. If she is not already gluten free do have the tests redone to see where she stands now. When all testing is over she should do a good strict trial of the diet no matter what the results.