Diagnostic Accuracy of Anti-Endomysial Antibody in Celiac Disease

The objective of the study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of anti-EMA antibody in comparison to histopathological findings in patients suspected of CD. This cross-sectional study was conducted at Gastroenterology Department, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, from March to October 2014. One hundred and twenty-one patients aged between 5 - 60 years of either gender were recruited in the study. Every patient went through serological testing and biopsy specimens were obtained from second part of the duodenum. Histopathological evaluation was done according to the Modified Marsh classification. The overall sensitivity of anti-EMAcame out to be 85.7% which varied with the histological lesions being 75.0%, 83.3%, and 100% for Marsh IIIA, IIIB and IIIC, respectively. Although anti-EMAhas high sensitivity but serological tests as a sole mean of diagnosis are currently unable to replace the biopsy.