Focal villus flattening and Celiac Disease

[jland25]

When I brought my son in for a second opinion, this doctor mentioned that although my son had no blood markers for Celiac Disease, he had "focal villus flattening" in his duodenum, which could be indicative of Celiac.

Has anyone else experienced this? Has going gluten free helped with this or your child's Crohn's in general?

The odd thing is my son has been mostly gluten free for the past couple of years to help with constipation and as a (possible) treatment for his autism. Maybe I was actually doing something right! Time to get doubly strict, though. Just when I thought I couldn't get more overwhelmed. :confused2:

Thanks,

Jland

 

[my little penguin]

If you were gluten free even mostly prior to scopes then you could have been treating it.
You need to be on gluten for months prior to a scope to get a good dx .
I know DS has villi issues in his duodendum but his were due to crohn's.
Also gluten free diet is known for constipation since the easy to buy packaged GF are rice based.

Tagging mehita
Her son has both crohn's and celiac .

 

[Catherine]

I would look into have the gene test done for Celiac Disease as he was mostly gluten free when the scope was done.

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...KdXXZhJDRUFWhd-REiFgPxg&bvm=bv.65788261,d.dGI

 

[Jmrogers4]

Tagging Mehita, her son has celiac's as well.

 

[Mehita]

My son was dx'd with Celiac with the blood test and endoscopy, so he's been on a strict gluten free diet for the last six years. He was dx'd with Crohn's at the same time and we were able to go about two years without Crohn's meds or issues during that time. We think had we not suspected and tested for Celiac, we wouldn't have found the Crohn's. The colonoscopy was sort of tossed in at the last minute because he was going to be under anyway, so let's just check kind of thing.

It's very possible that going gluten free could be helping with the Crohn's.

That being said, you said your son is "mostly" gluten free. If he truly has Celiac and he's not strictly GF, he could still be damaging his villi every time he eats something with gluten... and that might be what your doctor saw. With Celiac it's an all or nothing deal. So, theoretically, if you do go 100% gf and then scope again in six months or so, you should see more normal looking villi.

Don't forget to check vitamins, toothpaste, mouthwash, chewing gum, etc.

I agree with Catherine that if the tests seem to be inconclusive, consider genetic testing. That would provide some good info. The alternative is to do a gluten challenge.