Long-standing iron-deficiency anemia in an atypical celiac disease - a case report

Celiac disease is a complex disorder characterized by digestive symptoms as well as extraintestinal manifestations, sometimes difficult to diagnose. Commonly described as a disease of childhood, adult celiac disease is a well known entity that should be taken into the differential diagnosis of a chronic diarrhea or of a malabsorption syndrome. The pathogenesis encompasses an autoimmune pathway that acts on a genetic background. The mucosa of the small intestine became damaged in reponse to foods that contain gluten in subjects with genetic susceptibility. The clinical presentation is variable, ranging from typical gastrointestinal symptoms to extradigestive and systemic manifestations. The simple withdrawal of the dietary gluten results in clinical improvement and healing of the intestinal mucosa. We report the case of an young women diagnosed with celiac disease after 7 years of iron deficiency anemia without a clear etiology.