Endoscopic duodenal biopsy compared with biopsy with the Watson capsule from the upper jejunum in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.

Forty-eight patients with dermatitis herpetiformis were investigated with duodenoscopy, endoscopic biopsy, and conventional upper jejunal biopsy. Three endoscopic biopsy specimens were obtained from the duodenal bulb, three to six specimens from the second part of the duodenum, and one suction biopsy from the upper jejunum. In 60%, 71%, and 65% of the patients subtotal or partial villous atrophy was found in biopsies from the three levels, respectively. In eight patients (17%) mucosal abnormalities were confined to the duodenal biopsies and in two patients to the jejunal biopsies. The technique of endoscopic biopsy is advocated because multiple visually selected duodenal specimens may be obtained and because this technique also enables a complete evaluation of the stomach.