Search

Objective: Potential celiac disease (PCD) is a form of CD characterized by positive endomysial/tissue transglutaminase antibodies and a preserved duodenal mucosa despite a gluten-containing diet (GCD); it can evolve into flat, active CD. This evolution is, however, not certain. Our aim was to retrospectively study the prevalence and the natural history of adult patients with PCD., Methods: The clinical notes of all 47 patients with PCD attending our clinic between September 1999 and October 2011 were retrospectively reevaluated. To study their clinical features, patients with active CD, randomly selected and matched for sex and date of birth, served as controls. Symptoms, associated diseases, familiarity, and laboratory data at diagnosis were compared., Results: Prevalence of PCD among all celiac patients directly diagnosed in our center was 42/187, (1/4.4, 18.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 13.3-23.4%). Age at diagnosis, laboratory data, prevalence of symptoms, associated diseases, and familiarity for CD did not differ between patients with PCD and those with active CD. Some patients with PCD maintained a normal duodenal mucosa for many years and their symptoms spontaneously improved despite maintaining a GCD., Conclusions: PCD is not a rare form of CD. Having found no difference at all in age at diagnosis and clinical features between PCD and active CD could suggest that PCD is not a prodrome of CD but is a separate entity that can only subsequently evolve into active CD.

Objective: Although the diagnosis of coeliac disease requires specific histological and serological findings, patients considered to be affected by coeliac disease only on the basis of clinical improvement after gluten withdrawal are commonly referred to our outpatient clinic. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the clinical response of gastrointestinal symptoms to gluten withdrawal and subsequent dietary re-introduction could be an indicator of the presence of coeliac disease., Material and Methods: From December 1998 to January 2007, 180 patients on a gluten-free diet because of a diagnosis of coeliac disease not based on proper diagnostic criteria came to our out-patient clinic. In 112 of these patients, gluten was re-introduced into their diet. Subsequent duodenal biopsies and endomysial antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of coeliac disease in 51 of them. The relationship between improvement/worsening of symptoms and withdrawal/re-introduction of dietary gluten was analysed., Results: Gastrointestinal symptoms improved in 64.7% of coeliac patients and 75.0% of non-coeliac patients after gluten withdrawal (chi(2) test, p=NS). Gluten re-introduction was followed by clinical exacerbation in 71.4% of coeliac patients and 54.2% of non-coeliac patients (chi(2) test, p=NS). The positive predictive value for clinical improvement after gluten withdrawal was 36%; the positive predictive value for clinical exacerbation after gluten re-introduction was 28%., Conclusions: Clinical response to either withdrawal or re-introduction of dietary gluten has no role in the diagnosis of coeliac disease.