Increased red cell distribution width and coeliac disease

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Clinical Pathology
• Immunology

Background:

• Coeliac disease remains underdiagnosed despite available screening tests.
• Identifying predictive hematochemical abnormalities is crucial for early diagnosis.
• Adult coeliac disease diagnosis often relies on clinical presentation and serological markers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify hematochemical abnormalities that are more predictive of coeliac disease in adults.
• To evaluate the diagnostic utility of specific blood parameters in coeliac disease.
• To investigate novel indicators for coeliac disease detection.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of clinical records of 126 adult coeliac patients diagnosed since 1990.
• Analysis of six hematochemical parameters: hemoglobin, red cell distribution width (RDW), serum iron, albumin, calcium, and potassium.
• Statistical analysis (Chi-square) to compare the frequency of laboratory abnormalities.

Main Results:

• Elevated red cell distribution width (RDW) was the most frequent hematochemical abnormality, observed in 57.9% of patients.
• The prevalence of elevated RDW was statistically significant (p<0.01) compared to other laboratory changes.
• Iron-deficiency anemia, a known indicator, was less frequent than elevated RDW in this cohort.

Conclusions:

• Increased red cell distribution width is a more common finding than iron-deficiency anemia in adult coeliac disease.
• Elevated RDW can be considered a novel predictor for coeliac disease.
• Presence of elevated RDW warrants investigation for coeliac disease, including antiendomysial antibody testing.