Screening for maternal coeliac disease as a potential risk factor for orofacial clefts--a pilot study

There is increasing evidence that dietary folic acid deficiency in utero may increase the risk of developing the 'cleft lip with or without cleft palate' (CL±P) variant of orofacial cleft. Coeliac disease is a common cause of folic acid malabsorption, and in the majority of cases remains undiagnosed. This pilot study assessed the seroprevalence of undiagnosed coeliac disease in a cohort of mothers of infants with CL±P in the Hyderabad area of India. The seroprevalence of coeliac disease of 1.15% (95% confidence interval 0.37-2.66%) was little different from the expected figure based on published population studies, making a clinically significant association unlikely.