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The increased rate of sero- logic positivity for celiac dis-ease in relatives of patients with the disease suggests that genetic factors may play a sig-nifi cant role in disease develop-ment. This conclusion is sup-ported by the fact that there is a 75 percent concordance rate for celiac disease among mono-zygotic twins. 12 Approximately 97 percent of individuals with celiac disease are also positive for the major histocompatibility complex II HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8 haplotypes. Only 40 percent of the general popula-tion is positive for one or both of these haplotypes. 7 Individu- als with these specifi c HLA al-leles appear to have a genetic predisposition for developing celiac disease. The new epide-miological data regarding the incidence of celiac disease sug-gest that latent or sub-clinical forms of celiac disease are sub-stantially more prevalent than physicians once thought.

Celiac disease is a very com- mon condition associated with numerous other illnesses and chronic health conditions. Many people with celiac disease have nonspecifi c symptoms, greatly complicating the diagnosis of the condition. Diagnosis of ce-liac disease is particularly im-portant because therapeutic in-tervention by removing gluten from the patient’s diet can have a dramatic impact on the health and well-being of the patient. The clinical laboratory can play a tremendously important role the in the diagnosis of this con-dition.