Prevalence of celiac disease and symptoms in relatives of patients with celiac disease.
OBJECTIVE
We determined the prevalence and clinical features of celiac disease (CD) in family-members (FMs) of a population-based cohort of index cases.


METHODS
We recruited 108 CD index cases: mean age at diagnosis, 23.0 years (range, 1.5-45.2 years); 81 (75%) female. Three-hundred twelve (mean age, 41.6 years; 219 [70%] female) of FMs were analyzed. 153 (49%) were parents, 24 (7.7%) were children, 69 (22.2%) were siblings, 66 (21.1%) were second degree FMs.


RESULTS
CD was diagnosed in 63 subjects (20.1%, 21 males and 42 females, mean age 34.24 years, range 2-81 years). Classic, subclinical, and silent forms of CD were recognized in 18 [28.6% (6 siblings, 6 parents, 3 child, 3 second-degree FMs)], in 27 [45.8% (9 siblings, 3 parent, 15 second-degree FMs)], and in 18 [28.6% (6 siblings, 6 parents, 6 second-degree FMs)] cases, respectively. Most of patients suffering from "classical" (18/63 patients, 28.7%) and "subclinical" (27/63 patients, 42.9%) form of CD were older than patients suffering from "silent " CD (18/63 patients, 28.7%) (p=0.01). Most of patients suffering from subclinical disease showed autoimmune diseases (Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and psoriasis), and other atypical symptoms, as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), were also recorded.


CONCLUSIONS
We found an high-prevalence of CD between CD FMs, and most of them were olygo- or asymptomatic.
Tursi
A
A
Gastroenterology Service, ASL BAT, Andria (BAT), Italy. antotursi@tiscali.it
Elisei
W
W
Giorgetti
G M
GM
Gaspardone
A
A
Lecca
P G
PG
Di Cesare
L
L
Brandimarte
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence