www.wjgnet.com World Journal of Gastroenterology ISSN 1007-9327 wjg@wjgnet.com © 2006 The WJG Press. All rights reserved. An algorithm for family screening for coeliac disease

AIM: To assess the level of undiagnosed coeliac disease (CD) in relatives of patients affected by the condition. METHODS: We collected blood from 914 relatives of probands. We screened these individuals by ELISA for IgA and IgG tTG antibodies, confi rming any positive IgA tTG results with an IgA EMA and looked for evidence of IgA deficiency in those who were IgG tTG positive alone, and performed IgG1 EMA in these individuals. We undertook HLA typing where positive screening was found, and this confi rmed a strong prevalence of HLA-DQ2 in the coeliac population. Follow-up small intestinal biopsy was undertaken in cases with positive serological screening, wherever possible. RESULTS:Use of this serological screening algorith