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Published on: December 15, 2011
Celiac disease: a disease with varied manifestations in adults and adolescents
Minakshi Sharma1, Prashant Singh, Abhishek Agnihotri
1Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Objective:
We aimed to determine the characteristics of patients with celiac disease and differences between those who presented during adolescence or adulthood.
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed the case records of 233 consecutive patients with celiac disease who were diagnosed at 12-18 years or >18 years of age. The diagnosis of celiac disease was made on the basis of the modified European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition criteria.
Results:
The diagnosis of celiac disease was made after 18 years of age in 153 (65.7%) patients. Median duration of symptoms at the diagnosis was 54 months (range 1 month to 29 years). In all, 103 (44.2%) patients with atypical manifestations were referred by other departments for evaluation. Chronic diarrhea (48.5%), short stature (27.0%) and chronic anemia (9.0%) were the common modes of presentation. Elevated level of aminotransaminase were present in 50 (24.3%) patients. Chronic diarrhea, hypocalcemia and hypoalbuminemia were present in significantly higher number of adult than adolescent patients. In all, 227 (97.4%) patients responded to a 6-month gluten-free diet and six non-responders were non-compliant.
Conclusions:
More than 40% of the patients with celiac disease present to clinicians other than gastroenterologists or internists with atypical manifestations. A high index of suspicion is required for diagnosing its variant forms.
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