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[Screening of celiac disease in first-degree relatives]
Marcos López-Hoyos1, María José Bartolomé-Pacheco, Beatriz Castro
1Servicio de Inmunología. Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla. Servicio Cántabro de Salud. Santander. inmlhm@humv.es
Background And Objective:
Our aim was to analyze the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in first-degree relatives of patients diagnosed with this disorder in Cantabria (Northern Spain).
Subjects And Method:
A questionnaire was administered and a complete biologic study was performed in 184 relatives. When serum CD-related antibodies were detected, relatives were asked to undergo a jejunal biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
Results:
Thirteen relatives had autoantibodies yet only 4 were diagnosed with CD. The biopsy was suggestive of CD in 3 relatives who underwent it. A further relative was diagnosed with CD by the clinical and serological response to a gluten-free diet.
Conclusions:
The prevalence found in our study is high enough so that we recommend the screening of autoantibodies, especially anti-gliadin and anti-transglutaminase antibodies, in this risk-population of celiac disease.