The current standard for a celiac disease diagnosis is a positive blood test for specific antibodies, followed by a biopsy of the intestine that reveals damage to the villi (villous atrophy). These tests are certainly invasive and unpleasant, but more than that, they are useless in cases where a patient is already following a gluten-free…

A team of pediatric medical experts convened at the Children’s National Health Center in Washington, D.C. in January 2013 with a single, ambitious goal – to cull from over 40 years of publications and studies relating to celiac disease in children, a list of best practices for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of this potentially devastating disease.