Strongly positive @entity8265 antibody assays without XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1593 @entity8884 @entity1373 @entity29 @entity8265
@entity1593 is a @entity29 characterized by flattened villi and crypt @entity1373 , often with @entity8884 . Improvement occurs with a gluten-free diet. Sensitive and specific assays (eg, immunoglobulin A antibodies to @entity8265 [ @entity8265 ]) that can be quantified appear to be valuable tools for population screening studies. In addition, their use is expanding widely in the clinical practice arena, being employed as a method of case finding. In this evaluation, clinical use of a commercially available test kit was explored. Of 1330 samples submitted to our hospital laboratory by physicians in British Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon Territory (from 1999 to 2003, inclusive), 96 @entity1 (7%) had increased values (normal range greater than 20 units) and markedly increased levels greater than 100 units were detected in 36 @entity1 (3%). Of these, 14 @entity1 (almost 40%) were referred to gastroenterologists in our hospital and all 14 had small intestinal biopsies. Of these, three @entity1 (more than 20%) did not have @entity1593 . Two had normal small bowel biopsies and one had unclassified @entity1593 that failed to respond to a gluten-free diet. The other 11 had biopsy-defined @entity1593 . While the @entity8265 assay may be a useful predictor of @entity1593 , small intestinal biopsy is still required to confirm the diagnosis. In clinical practice, even strongly positive @entity8265 results are not specific in individual @entity1 , do not necessarily correlate with the degree of severity of biopsy change and, as a result, are also unlikely to be useful for monitoring diet compliance.
