Celiac Disease in Children with Chronic Diarrhoea: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Celiac disease is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder, very often underdiagnosed due to lack of awareness among the general practitioners. Aim: To study the prevalence of celiac disease among children with chronic diarrhoea. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which, 890 children between the age group of 1-18 years with history of chronic diarrhoea (loose stools or increased frequency for more than two weeks) were enrolled, between November 2015 and January 2018 in a tertiary care centre in India. The children were screened with serological tests for celiac disease and among those who were tested positive; the diagnosis was confirmed by intestinal biopsy. Results: Of the 890 patients with chronic diarrhoea, 252 (28.3%) were tested positive for anti-tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies with levels more than 10 times the upper normal limit. Among the 252 patients with positive serology, 144 patientshad intestinal biopsy findings suggestive of celiac disease (Marsh stage 3b and 3c) while the rest had normal or mild (marsh grade 1, 2 and 3a) histological changes. Conclusion: Celiac disease is one of the most important causes of chronic diarrhoea and hence should be actively looked for in children presenting with chronic diarrhoea.