Anthropometry, metabolic control, and follow-up in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and biopsy-proven celiac disease.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of biopsy-proven celiac disease (BPCD) on somatic development and metabolic parameters in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in a multicenter survey.


METHODS
Within the Diabetes Patienten Verlaufsdokumentationssystem-Wiss project, data of 41 951 patients with T1DM, aged <20 years (52% males, mean age 13.9 years; mean duration of diabetes 5.5 years) were collected in 297 centers in Germany and Austria from 1995 to 2009.


RESULTS
The number of BPCD (0.6% in 1995; 1.3% in 2008) has increased over time. Patients with BPCD were significantly younger at diabetes onset (5.9 vs 8.3 years), had a significantly lower weight standard deviation score (SDS); (0.20 vs 0.43) and height SDS (-0.28 vs -0.03) (P < .001, each) compared with patients without celiac disease. No differences were found in hemoglobin A1c or numbers of severe hypoglycemia. In a subgroup of 9805 patients (183 with BPCD) significantly lower height and weight SDS (P < .001) were still found after a 5-year follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Screening for celiac disease is important in children with T1DM to prevent persistent growth failure.
Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. elke.froehlich-reiterer@medunigraz.at
Elke E
EE
Fröhlich-Reiterer
Stefan
S
Kaspers
Sabine
S
Hofer
Edith
E
Schober
Olga
O
Kordonouri
Susanne Bechtold-Dalla
SB
Pozza
Reinhard W
RW
Holl
D000293:Adolescent; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male