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N>If the skin symptoms suggest DH, the diagnosis is based on two tests:
 
N>1. Skin biopsy: immunofluorescent staining - linear deposits of IgA.
 
N>2. Serology test: positive antiendomysium antibody test.
 
N>As a compromise: the positive serology and the typical skin symptoms
N>are enough for a clinical diagnosis. However, I think most of the
N>dermatologist consider the biopsy as "gold standard" for the diagnosis.
 
N>It seems that dermatologist needs some education regarding the DH
N>diagnosis ("gluten-sensitive dermatopathy"; this is only my terminology)
 
My dermatologist suggested Celiac Disease before my gastroenterologist
and diagnosed my skin condition immediately as probably Dermatitis
Herpetiformis.He put me on DAPSONE and explained all the ramifications of
Celiac Disease.
 
My gastroenterologist had given me all sorts of gut identification-IBM,
etc. He was pretty steamed at my dermatologist for setting the situation
straight. However, the gastroenterologist did do a biopsy to confirm the
diagnosis of Celiac Disease. Up until then, I had thought temperaments
were confined to the theater of operations in music and drama, not
medicine. It would probably have been amusing had I not suffered years
of discomfort. AMS