Diagnosing Coeliac Disease

Diagnosing coeliac disease

Routine screening for coeliac disease is not recommended unless you have symptoms or are at an increased risk of developing them.

Screening for coeliac disease involves a two-stage process:

• blood tests – to help identify people who may have coeliac disease
• a biopsy – to confirm the diagnosis

These procedures are described in more detail below.

Blood test

Your GP will take a blood sample and test it for antibodies usually present in the bloodstream of people with coeliac disease.

You should not be avoiding gluten in your diet when the blood test is done as this could lead to an inaccurate result.

If coeliac disease antibodies are found in your blood, your GP will refer you for a biopsy of your gut.

However, it is sometimes possible to have coeliac disease and not have these antibodies in your blood.

If you continue to have coeliac disease-like symptoms despite having a negative blood test, your GP may still recommend you have a biopsy.

Biopsy

A biopsy is carried out in hospital, usually by a gastroenterologist (a specialist in treating conditions of the stomach and intestines). A biopsy can help confirm a diagnosis of coeliac disease.

If you need to have a biopsy, an endoscope (a thin, flexible tube with a light) will be inserted into your mouth and gently passed down to your small intestine.

Before the procedure, you will be given a local anaesthetic to numb your throat or a sedative to help you relax.

The gastroenterologist will pass a tiny biopsy tool through the endoscope to take samples of the lining of your small intestine. The sample will then be examined under a microscope for signs of coeliac disease.