Celiac Disease Case Study

Diagnosis of Celiac Disease A patient who has celiac disease, which is triggered by gluten, might have thought that it was a “post cibum”, after meals, problem. However, when the patient goes to the hospital, the doctor notices the symptoms of celiac disease and asks the patient to perform some examination steps to diagnose celiac disease. This essay focuses on the celiac disease diagnosis procedures that are skin biopsy, blood test, and intestinal biopsy.

The first procedure of diagnosis celiac disease is a skin biopsy if the patient is suspected to have dermatitis herpetiformis, acutely itchy vesicles on the body associated with celiac disease. [1] The doctor carries out this procedure by removing tiny specimens from the skin tissue for
[1] Before the patient undergoes the blood test, he or she is asked to continue eating food that contains gluten because if the patient decides to follow a gluten-free diet before the blood test, the blood test result will be unreliable. [1,2] Thus, to perform the blood test again the patient must resume a normal diet for at least six weeks. [2] This diet is important to ensure that the blood test is reliable. [1,2] After that, the blood test is done by measuring the gluten antibody levels in the blood. [1,2] gluten antibodies are secreted by the immune system as a response to gluten. Therefore, the blood test result of children who are under the age of four is less reliable because their immune system response is fluctuant. [2] If the presence of celiac disease is confirmed by skin biopsy and blood test, the patient will not undergo an intestinal biopsy. [1] However, if the doctor starts the diagnosis procedures with the blood test, the patient is recommended to perform an intestinal biopsy.