[The role of endomysium antibodies in the diagnosis and monitoring of celiac disease].

Coeliac disease is a common cause of chronic diarrhea in children and adults. It is also frequently detected in children exclusively affected by iron deficiency anemia, hypocalcemia, short stature, dental enamel defects, epilepsy and intracranial calcifications, etc. The coeliac disease diagnosis may be facilitated by the use of some immunological tests like anti endomysial (AEA) or anti gliadin (AGA) antibodies detection. From December 1990 to September 1992 anti endomysial IgA and anti gliadin IgG antibodies were respectively detected in 1680 and 1598 sera from children and adults affected by chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive or other symptoms compatible with coeliac disease diagnosis. According to ESPGAN criteria at that time coeliac disease diagnosis was made in 73 cases. In our experience AEA IgA show to have a better sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of coeliac disease rather than AGA IgG (97.5% vs 95.1% and 99.5% vs 98.3% respectively).