The Usefulness of Intraepithelial Lymphocyte Immunophenotype Testing for the Diagnosis of Coeliac Disease in Clinical Practice

TL;DR

This study shows that testing for intraepithelial lymphocytes helps diagnose coeliac disease when standard methods are unclear or inconclusive.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the practical value of IEL-FC in confirming or ruling out coeliac disease in challenging clinical cases.

Findings

IEL-FC provided a definitive diagnosis in 93% of patients with uncertain coeliac disease status.

IEL-FC was particularly useful when initial tests were negative or patients were already on a gluten-free diet.

IEL-FC improved diagnostic accuracy in scenarios where conventional methods were insufficient.

Abstract

Background: The diagnosis of coeliac disease (CD) in adults is based on clinical, serological and histological criteria. The inappropriate performance of intestinal biopsies, non-specificity of mild histological lesions and initiation of a gluten-free diet (GFD) before biopsy may hamper the diagnosis. In these situations, determining the intraepithelial lymphogram of the duodenum by flow cytometry (IEL-FC) can be helpful. Objectives: To describe the clinical scenarios in which the IEL-FC is used and its impact on the diagnosis of CD. Methods: All adult patients with suspected CD at three tertiary centres for whom the duodenal histology and IEL-FC were available were identified. Catassi and Fasano’s diagnostic criteria and changes to a CD diagnosis after the IEL-FCs were collected. Results: A total of 348 patients were included. The following indications for an IEL-FC formed part of the initial study for CD (38%): negative conventional work-up (32%), already on a GFD before duodenal biopsies (29%) and refractoriness to a GFD (2%). The IEL-FC facilitated a definitive diagnosis in 93% of patients with an uncertain diagnosis who had had a conventional work-up for CD or who were on a GFD before histology. Conclusions: The IEL-FC facilitates the confirmation or rejection of a diagnosis of CD in clinical scenarios in which a conventional work-up may be insufficient.

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