Prevalence of celiac antibodies in children with neurologic disorders.
Neurologic complications are a recognized but unusual manifestation of celiac disease (CD) in adults and children. The use of antigliadin and antiendomysial antibodies in screening has revealed the frequency of CD among symptom-free individuals to be high. Recently, a high frequency (57%) of antigliadin antibodies was demonstrated in adult patients with neurologic dysfunctions of unknown cause. We investigated the yield of screening for CD in children with common neurologic disorders. One hundred sixty-seven children, 1-16 years of age, were included in the study: 41 with migraine headaches, 39 with attention-deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, 36 with epileptic disorders, and 51 with hypotonia and motor abnormalities. Positive IgG antigliadin antibodies were evident in 22 children (13%) in the study group compared with three children (9%) in the control group. However, in all children, negative IgA and endomysial antibodies were observed; thus duodenal biopsies were not performed. Contrary to studies performed in adults, these results did not demonstrate any relationship between common neurologic disorders without a specific diagnosis during childhood and CD. Thus screening for CD does not need to be routinely included in the diagnostic evaluation of children with these disorders.
Unit of Pediatric Neurology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Zerifin, Israel.
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Lahat
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Broide
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Leshem
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Evans
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Scapa
D000293:Adolescent; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005903:Gliadin / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence
D001323:Autoantibodies; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D005903:Gliadin