Coeliac disease (CD) is a chronic enteropathy caused by intolerance to gluten in genetically susceptible people. The first description of the coeliac lesion was provided in 1954 by Paulley et al, who examined full-thickness biopsy specimens taken at laparotomy from a patient with CD. They referred to broad flat villi and a dense chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate in the small intestinal mucosa. Following this, the use of unguided suction biopsy devices, such as the Crosby capsule, allowed the study of patients with malabsorption. The advent of fibreoptic endoscopy as a diagnostic tool has led to extensive study of the duodenal mucosa in less florid forms of CD.