The role of ultrasonography in patients with celiac disease

Table 1 Number of patients showing a positivity of each of the four US signs studied in the pediatric series of Riccabona et al ⁽¹¹⁾.

US signs	Patients with a positive sign (#)
Abnormal aspect of small intestine	36
Increased peristalsis	32
Abdominal fluid	30
Pericardial effusion	18

Table 2 Number of patients showing a positivity for each of the eight US parameters assessed in the adult series of Rettenbacher et al ⁽¹²⁾.

US signs	Patients with a positive sign (#)
Moderate small bowel dilatation	8/11
Increased intraluminal fluid content	11/11
Small bowel wall thickness	7/11
Increased peristalsis	8/11
Mesenteric limph node hypertrophy	9/11
Free abdominal fluid	5/11
SMA or portal vein dilatation	7/11
Hepatic steatosis	6/11

Table 3 Diagnostic performance of six US parameters in predicting celiac disease (CD). Sensitivity, specificity, positive or negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR-), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) (with corresponding 95% CI in parentheses).

US parameters	Sens %	Spec %	LR +ve	LR - ve	PPV %	NPV %
Increased gallbladder volume (r.v. ≤ 20mL)	73 (46-99)	96 (92-99)	17.0 (7.3-41.0)	0.28 (0.1-0.7)	57 (31-83)	98 (95-100)
Dilated small bowel loops + increased fluid content (r.v. ≤ 2.5 cm)	92 (76-100)	77 (70-84)	4.0 (2.8-5.5)	0.10 (0.1-0.7)	24 (11-36)	99 (97-100)
Thickened small bowel wall 91 8.0 0.27 39 98 (r.v. ≤ 3 mm)	75 (50-99)	91 (86-95)	8.0 (4.4-14.5)	0.27 (0.1-0.7)	39 (19-59)	98 (95-100)
Increased peristalsis	83 (62-100)	87 (82-92)	6.6 (4.0-10.7)	0.10 (0.05-0.7)	34 (17-51)	98 (96-100)
Free abdominal fluid	50 (22-78)	96 (93-99)	12.5 (4.7-33)	0.52 (0.3-0.9)	50 (22-78)	96 (92-99)
Enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes (r.v. ≤ 5 mm)	42 (14-69)	97 (95-99)	15.6 (6.8-50.6)	0.59 (0.4-0.9)	55 (23-88)	95 (92-99)