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Prevalence of Silent Celiac Disease in Patients with Dyspepsia

Digestive Diseases and Sciences volume 52, pages 692–697 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Celiac disease (CD) has become more common than in the past, although it frequently remains undetected for long periods of time. One reason for this is failure by health care professionals to recognize the variable clinical manifestations of CD and to perform the appropriate tests to make the diagnosis. Although dyspepsia may be part of a clinical spectrum in CD patients, there are scarce data about its prevalence in silent CD. We aimed to determine the prevalence of CD in otherwise healthy dyspeptic patients by means of serologic screening followed by endoscopic biopsies if appropriate. Anti-endomysium antibody assay was positive in 3 of 196 patients. All 3 were female, ages ranged from 19–52 years (mean ± SD age, 36±16 years). Duodenal biopsies were compatible with CD in all, whereas abnormal endoscopic findings were noted in 2. Therefore, a 1.5% prevalence of CD was observed in this study group. The odds ratio for CD was 2.57 (95% confidence interval) in comparison with the general population. CD should be kept in mind as a cause of dyspepsia during clinical activities. The association between these 2 conditions is, at most, weak, but a gluten-free diet may still bring symptomatic relief for dyspeptic symptoms in CD. During endoscopic examination for dyspepsia, if indicated, endoscopists should carefully inspect the duodenum for CD findings. Although routine serologic screening can not be recommended, it may be appropriate for the patients with refractory dyspepsia, especially females.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Numune Education and Training Hospital, İleri Mah. Mektep Sok. No: 7/10, Kurtuluş, 06660, Ankara, Turkey

    Ersan Özaslan & Burçak Kayhan

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Numune Education and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Sertuğ Akkorlu & Erdal Eskioğlu

Authors
  1. Ersan Özaslan
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  2. Sertuğ Akkorlu
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  3. Erdal Eskioğlu
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  4. Burçak Kayhan
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Correspondence to Ersan Özaslan.

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Özaslan, E., Akkorlu, S., Eskioğlu, E. et al. Prevalence of Silent Celiac Disease in Patients with Dyspepsia. Dig Dis Sci 52, 692–697 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9453-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9453-1

Keywords

  • Celiac disease
  • Silent
  • Dyspepsia
  • Prevalence