Role of capsule endoscopy in alarm features and non-responsive celiac disease: A European multicenter study

The role of capsule endoscopy (CE) in established celiac disease (CD) remains unclear. Our objective was to analyze the usefulness of CE in the suspicion of complicated CD.

This was a retrospective multicenter study. One hundred and eighty-nine celiac patients (mean age: 46.6 ± 16.6, 30.2% males) who underwent CE for alarm symptoms (n = 86, 45.5%) or non-responsive CD (n = 103, 54.5%) were included. Diagnostic yield (DY), therapeutic impact and safety were analyzed.

Capsule endoscopy was completed in 95.2% of patients (small bowel transit time: 270.5 ± 100.2 min). Global DY was 67.2%, detecting atrophic mucosa (n = 92, 48.7%), ulcerative jejunoileitis (n = 21, 11.1%), intestinal lymphoma (n = 7, 3.7%) and other enteropathies (n = 7, 3.7%, six Crohn's disease cases and one neuroendocrine tumor). The DY of CE was significantly higher in patients presenting with non-responsive disease compared to patients with alarm symptoms (73.8% vs 59.3%, P = 0.035). The new findings of the CE modified management in 59.3% of the cases. There were no major complications.

Capsule endoscopy may be a moderately helpful and safe diagnostic tool in the suspicion of complicated CD, modifying the clinical course of these patients.