title: Celiac disease in the Mediterranean area.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The World Gastroenterology Organization recommends developing national guidelines for the diagnosis of Celiac Disease (CD): hence a profile of the diagnosis of CD in each country is required. We aim to describe a cross-sectional picture of the clinical features and diagnostic facilities in 16 countries of the Mediterranean basin. Since a new ESPGHAN diagnostic protocol was recently published, our secondary aim is to estimate how many cases in the same area could be identified without a small intestinal biopsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  By a stratified cross-sectional retrospective study design, we examined clinical, histological and laboratory data from 749 consecutive unselected CD children diagnosed by national referral centers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vast majority of cases were diagnosed before the age of 10 (median: 5 years), affected by diarrhea, weight loss and food refusal, as expected. Only 59 cases (7.8%) did not suffer of major complaints. Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) assay was available, but one-third of centers reported financial constraints in the regular purchase of the assay kits. 252 cases (33.6%) showed tTG values over 10 times the local normal limit. Endomysial antibodies and HLA typing were routinely available in only half of the centers. CD was mainly diagnosed from small intestinal biopsy, available in all centers. Based on these data, only 154/749 cases (20.5%) would have qualified for a diagnosis of CD without a small intestinal biopsy, according to the new ESPGHAN protocol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This cross-sectional study of CD in the Mediterranean referral centers offers a puzzling picture of the capacities to deal with the emerging epidemic of CD in the area, giving a substantive support to the World Gastroenterology Organization guidelines.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Tucci
authors: Luca
authors: L
authors: Astarita
authors: Abdelhak
authors: A
authors: Abkari
authors: Mona
authors: M
authors: Abu-Zekry
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Attard
authors: Mongi
authors: M
authors: Ben Hariz
authors: José Ramon
authors: JR
authors: Bilbao
authors: Ghazalia
authors: G
authors: Boudraa
authors: Samir
authors: S
authors: Boukthir
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Costa
authors: Veselinka
authors: V
authors: Djurisic
authors: Jean-Pierre
authors: JP
authors: Hugot
authors: Iñaki
authors: I
authors: Irastorza
authors: Aydan
authors: A
authors: Kansu
authors: Sanja
authors: S
authors: Kolaček
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Magazzù
authors: Dušanka
authors: D
authors: Mičetić-Turk
authors: Zrinjka
authors: Z
authors: Misak
authors: Eleftheria
authors: E
authors: Roma
authors: Pasqualino
authors: P
authors: Rossi
authors: Selma
authors: S
authors: Terzic
authors: Virtut
authors: V
authors: Velmishi
authors: Carmela
authors: C
authors: Arcidiaco
authors: Renata
authors: R
authors: Auricchio
authors: European Laboratory for Food Induced Diseases, University of Naples Federico II, Naples 80131, Italy. ydongre@unina.it.
authors: Luigi
authors: L
authors: Greco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000352:Africa, Northern; D000855:Anorexia / Q000209:etiology; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000097:blood; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D006680:HLA Antigens; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D011503:Transglutaminases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins