Assessment of the Initial Clinical Presentations of Patients with Celiac Disease

Background: The prevalence of celiac disease, which is gastrointestinal enteropathy, is increasing. This study aimed to assess the clinical presentations of celiac disease in children. Methods: The current research is a descriptive-cross-sectional study conducted on 200 children with celiac disease who presented to the gastroenterology clinic of Ghaem Hospital. All patients with celiac disease, presented between 2016 and 2021 were included. For all patients, a checklist including demographic information such as age, sex, weight, weight Z score, height, height Z score, the initial clinical presentations leading to the diagnosis, laboratory examinations including CBC, Anti-TTG IgA, as well as pathological findings including biopsy, and Marsh score were recorded. Subsequently, the findings were described using the frequency table. Results: Out of 200 children examined, 65.5% were girls, and 34.5% were boys. The average age of the patients was 7.70±3.71 years. The most common clinical presentations were: growth failure (38.5%), diabetes (21%), and abdominal pain (15.5%). The average Anti TTG (IgA) level of the patients in the study was 202.03, with a standard deviation of 146.05. Also, the weight z score for the age of the studied subjects varied between 64 and 147, and its average was 2.06 with a standard deviation of 10.85. The height Z score for age ranged between 6 and 6.7, with the average was 0.87, and a standard deviation of 1.63. Conclusion: In the current study, growth failure was the most common clinical presentation. As children with celiac disease do not always have the typical presentations such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, steatorrhea, and bloating, it is recommended that the atypical presentations be also noted, particularly growth failure.

Assessment of the Initial Clinical Presentations of Patients with Celiac Disease Keywords:

Celiac disease , Growth failure , Children