WHOLE-BLOOD FOLATE AS A SCREENING TEST FOR CŒLIAC DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD

Fifty children were investigated as possible cases of coeliac disease, using several screening tests. The diagnosis was later confirmed (group 1, thirty cases) or refuted (group 2, twenty cases) by jejunal biopsy. The whole-blood folate (W.B.F.) levels were less than 50 ng. per ml. in all the cœliac children in group 2, and were more than 60 ng. per ml. in all cases in group 2. This degree of separation was not achieved by fæcal-fat estimations, D-xylose absorption, or X-ray of the small intestine. These results suggest that a normal W.B.F. value may be used with confidence to exclude the clinical diagnosis of cœliac disease in childhood.