Abstract

Aim of the present study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of anti-tissue trans-glutaminase immunoglobulin A in celiac disease. It is a comparative cross sectional study conducted in Department of Pediatric Medicine, Services Hospital Lahore, which is a tertiary care hospital.Fifty suspected cases of celiac disease were included in this study.  The study included 50 patients (age range 1-12 years) who visited the hospital during one year time, with mean age of 5.7±3.0 years. Out of these patients 54% were girls and 46% boys. Anti-tissue trans-glutaminase was positive in 40 patients and 10 patients were negative while in 37 patients histopathology was consistent with Celiac Disease (CD) and 13 patients had normal histopathology. 32 patients were true positive, 8 patients false positive, 5 patients’ false negative and 5 patients were true negative. Anti-tissue trans-glutaminase IgA proved sensitivity 86.5% and specificity 38.4%. The diagnostic accuracy of the test was 74.0% with positive predictive value of 80.0% and negative predictive value 50.0%. Positive anti-tissue trans-glutaminase antibody titers may give suspicion of Celiac disease in children but can’t replace Small Bowel Biopsy (SBB) which is still Gold standard. Hence, histological confirmation is mandatory for its diagnosis. Serological tests may be more significant if they are combined instead of using single one for diagnosis of Celiac disease.