Diagnostic Yield of 2 Strategies for Adult Celiac Disease Identification in Primary Care.

GOALS: To compare the diagnostic yield and cost-consequences of 2 strategies, screening regardless of symptoms versus case finding (CF), using a point-of-care test (POCT), for the detection of celiac disease (CD) in primary care, to bridge the diagnostic gap of CD in adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All subjects under 75 years of age who consecutively went to their general practitioners' offices were offered POCT for anti-transglutaminase immunoglobulin A antibodies. The POCT was performed on all subjects who agreed, and then a systematic search for symptoms or conditions associated with higher risk for CD was performed, immediately after the test but before knowing the test results. The 2 resulting groups were: (a) POCT positive and (b) symptomatic subject at CF. Subjects were defined as symptomatic at CF in the presence of 1 or more symptoms. All POCT-positive or symptomatic subjects at CF were referred to the CD Centers for confirmation of CD. Data on resource consumption were gathered from patients' charts. Cost of examinations, and diagnostic and laboratory tests were estimated with regional outpatient tariffs (Sicily), and a price of &OV0556;2.5 was used for each POCT. RESULTS: Of a total of 2197 subjects who agreed to participate in the study, 36 (1.6%) and 671 (30.5%) were POCT positive and symptomatic at CF, respectively. The yield from the screening and CF was 5 new celiac patients. The total cost and mean cost for each new CD case were &OV0556;7497.35 and &OV0556;1499.47 for the POCT screening strategy, and &OV0556;9855.14 and &OV0556;1971.03 for the CF strategy, respectively. Assuming consecutive use of both strategies, performing POCT only in symptomatic subjects at CF, the calculated yield would be 4 new diagnoses with a total cost of &OV0556;2345.84 and a mean cost of &OV0556;586.46 for each newly diagnosed patient. Only 1 patient was celiac despite a negative POCT. CONCLUSIONS: Testing symptomatic subjects at CF only by POCT seems the most cost-effective strategy to bridge the diagnostic gap of adult CD in primary care.

Case report on pathogenetic link between gluten and IgA nephropathy.

BACKGROUND: A relationship between IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and celiac disease (CD) has been reported. We show the pathogenetic link for the first time. CASE PRESENTATION: A 39-year-old man with cystic fibrosis (CF) and CF-related diabetes started to present gross hematuria, back pain and headache. At admission, laboratory analysis showed increase in serum creatinine of 1.5 mg/dl, together with hematuria and mild proteinuria (1 g/24 h). He underwent a renal biopsy to investigate the cause of hematuria and renal failure. Biopsy was consistent with IgAN. In view of patient reported dyspepsia, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with duodenal biopsies was undertaken and was normal. We looked for mucosal deposits of tTG-2 in the duodenum and the renal mesangium. tTG-2 deposits were found both in the duodenum and in renal biopsies, where they topographically replicated mesangial IgA deposits. After one year on a continued gluten containing diet, the patient developed a Marsh 2 type duodenal pathology. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a connection between CD and IgAN in terms of an immune-mediated gluten-induced pathogenesis even in the absence of villous atrophy and serum celiac autoantibodies.

A point-of-care test for facing the burden of undiagnosed celiac disease in the Mediterranean area: a pragmatic design study.

BACKGROUND: We aimed at assessing the factors that can influence results of the dissemination of an already validated, new generation commercial Point-of-Care Test (POCT) for detecting celiac disease (CD), in the Mediterranean area, when used in settings where it was designed to be administered, especially in countries with poor resources. METHODS: Pragmatic study design. Family pediatricians at their offices in Italy, nurses and pediatricians in Slovenia and Turkey at pediatricians', schools and university primary care centers looked for CD in 3,559 (1-14 yrs), 1,480 (14-23 yrs) and 771 (1-18 yrs) asymptomatic subjects, respectively. A new generation POCT detecting IgA-tissue antitransglutaminase antibodies and IgA deficiency in a finger-tip blood drop was used. Subjects who tested positive and those suspected of having CD were referred to a Celiac Centre to undergo further investigations in order to confirm CD diagnosis. POCT Positive Predictive Value (PPV) at tertiary care (with Negative Predictive Value) and in primary care settings, and POCT and CD rates per thousand in primary care were estimated. RESULTS: At tertiary care setting, PPV of the POCT and 95% CI were 89.5 (81.3-94.3) and 90 (56-98.5) with Negative Predictive Value 98.5 (94.2-99.6) and 98.7% (92-99.8) in children and adults, respectively. In primary care settings of different countries where POCT was performed by a different number of personnel, PPV ranged from 16 to 33% and the CD and POCT rates per thousand ranged from 4.77 to 1.3 and from 31.18 to 2.59, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Interpretation of POCT results by different personnel may influence the performance of POC but dissemination of POCT is an urgent priority to be implemented among people of countries with limited resources, such as rural populations and school children.

The importance of disease prevalence in assessing the diagnostic value of a test: endoscopic markers in celiac disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We evaluated the diagnostic variability and reproducibility of endoscopic signs in two populations with a different pretest likelihood of celiac disease (CD). METHODS: We recruited 289 CD patients (both adults and children) in a multicenter prospective study. Group 1 (high risk) included 111 patients referred for positive serology. Group 2 (low risk) included 178 unselected patients. Mosaic pattern, reduction/loss of Kerckring's folds, scalloping of the valvulae conniventes and a nodular pattern were the endoscopic findings looked for in the duodenum. RESULTS: In group 1, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of endoscopic findings were 100, 84.6, 94.2 and 100% in adults, and 86.8, 9.1, 82.1 and 12.5% in children. In group 2, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of endoscopic findings were 33.3, 91.4, 7.7 and 98.5% in adults, and noncalculable, 78.3, 0.0 and 100% in children. Comparing group 1 and group 2, there was a statistically significant difference in sensitivity and PPV in adults, and in specificity, PPV and NPV in children. Concerning the reproducibility of endoscopic findings, a wide variability of κ values was found. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic signs have low reproducibility for CD, and their diagnostic value in selecting patients for multiple intestinal biopsies is unacceptable, especially in populations with low disease prevalence.