Risk of pancreatitis in 14,000 individuals with celiac disease

The aim of this study was to examine the risk of pancreatitis in patients with celiac disease (CD) from a general population cohort.

By using Swedish national registers, we identified 14,239 individuals with a diagnosis of CD (1964-2003) and 69,381 reference individuals matched for age, sex, calendar year, and county of residence at the time of diagnosis. Cox regression estimated the hazard ratios (HRs) for a subsequent diagnosis of pancreatitis. We restricted analyses to individuals with more than 1 year of follow-up and no diagnosis of pancreatitis before or within 1 year after study entry. Conditional logistic regression estimated the association of pancreatitis with subsequent CD.

CD was associated with an increased risk of subsequent pancreatitis of any type (HR, 3.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-4.4; P < .001; on the basis of 95 positive events in individuals with CD vs 163 positive events in reference individuals) and chronic pancreatitis (HR, 19.8; 95% CI, 9.2-42.8; P < .001; on the basis of 37 and 13 positive events, respectively). Adjustment for socioeconomic index, diabetes mellitus, alcohol-related disorders, or gallstone disease had no notable effect on the risk estimates. The risk increase for pancreatitis was only found among individuals with CD diagnosed in adulthood. Pancreatitis of any type (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% CI, 2.5-4.3; P < .001) and chronic pancreatitis (odds ratio, 7.3; 95% CI, 4.0-13.5; P < .001) were associated with subsequent CD.

This study suggests that individuals with CD are at increased risk of pancreatitis.