Nabeela Zia, Sara Saeed Malik, Uzma Jabeen.
Accuracy of Anti-tissue Transglutaminase (TTG) Antibodies to Diagnose Celiac Disease in Children.
Pak Paed J Jan ;45(3):304-9.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (TTG IgA) as a tool to detect celiac disease in patient presenting with clinical features suggestive of the disease keeping histopathology as a confirmatory test for diagnosis. Study Design: Cross sectional study Place and Duration of the Study: The study was carried out at department of pediatrics, Children`s Hospital Lahore from 1st January to 30th June 2012. Material and Methods: A total of 200 cases were enrolled after a written consent from parents/guardians. Data was recorded on proforma by researcher and then small bowel biopsy was performed. Patients were labeled as positive or negative for celiac disease based on TTG IgA and histopathology. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version-10. Statistical analysis was preformed to calculate means and proportions. Results: In our study, out of 200 cases, mean and standard deviation for age was calculated as 6.74 + 3.25 years, 59% (n=118) were male and 41% (n=82) were female, frequency of celiac disease was calculated as 20.5% (n=41). Keeping histopathology as gold standard, diagnostic accuracy of TTG IgA in detecting CD was calculated which showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy rate as 70.73%, 69.81%, 37.66%, 90.24% and 70% respectively. Conclusion: We concluded that accuracy of TTG IgA in detection of CD in patients suspected for celiac disease is in acceptable range and this tool may be adopted for primary investigation of the morbidity. However, further trials are required to validate our findings.

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