[Difficulties of diagnosing gluten enteropathies in adults]

Seven cases of adult patients with gluten enteropathy (1 male and 6 female patients, including 1 patient with Duhring's disease) are presented. These patients suffered from diarrhoea lasting for 1-10 years prior to the diagnosis of gluten enteropathy. Transient diarrhoea was noted in one female patient in her childhood. Blood calcium levels were lowered in all patients and were accompanied by tetany in five and osteomalacia in two patients. One patient's sister is suffering from mucoviscidosis. Earlier, coeliac disease was not diagnosed in any patient. Previous diagnoses included enteritis, hypoparathyroidism or neuro- and myopathies of unknown etiology. The authors suggest that the difficulties in diagnosing gluten enteropathies in adults are due to the lack of biopsy capsules, low acquaintance of physicians with this disease, and indications to small intestine biopsy.