Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Determining whether patients with lymphocytic enteritis (LE) have coeliac disease is a challenge. We analysed the variables associated with a low-grade coeliac enteropathy diagnosis in patients with suspected coeliac disease but without villous atrophy, and developed a scoring system to identify them. METHODS: We collected data from 2010 through to 2016 on patients with lymphocytic enteritis and persistent symptoms compatible with the clinical spectrum of coeliac disease. One hundred and four patients starting on a gluten-free diet (GFD) were included. Duodenal biopsies were collected before the GFD and analysed for numbers of CD3(+) T-cell receptor gamma delta+ (TCRγδ(+)), and CD3(-) intraepithelial lymphocytes. We performed a logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with a low-grade coeliac enteropathy diagnosis. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients achieved clinical remission after the GFD. Fifty of these 62 patients were diagnosed with low-grade coeliac enteropathy. Multivariate analysis identified the presence of >25% intraepithelial lymphocytosis, HLA-DQ2.5, positive serology, and increased numbers of TCRγδ(+) cells with a low-grade coeliac enteropathy diagnosis. We developed a scoring system that identified patients with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.91. Scores of >10 had 86% sensitivity and 85% specificity. CONCLUSION: We developed a scoring system that identifies patients likely to be diagnosed with low-grade coeliac enteropathy with an AUC value of 0.91.