title: Clinical evolution of celiac disease in Italy 1982-2002.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this work is to assess how the clinical features of celiac disease have changed in Italy after the widespread introduction of serologic tests in 1993.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty Italian Clinical Centers collected information from 1982 until 2002 on 1968 patients older than 18 years diagnosed with celiac disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that the incidence of atypical and silent cases of celiac disease has increased after the wider availability of serological test, which has allowed earlier diagnosis and treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper provides a view on the evolution of the clinical features of celiac disease in Italy over 2 decades. The relevance of the analysis is supported by the fact that Italy is one of the countries with the highest incidence of celiac disease. These findings underline the importance of a timely diagnosis of celiac disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Metabolism and Pathological Biochemistry, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Archivio
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silano
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fagnani
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scazzocchio
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nisticò
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giovannini
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vari'
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: D'Ippolito
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cotichini
authors.forename: Maria Antonietta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Stazi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Vincenzi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies