Hematologic manifestation of childhood celiac disease

We wanted to describe the hematologic manifestations of celiac disease (CD) in childhood. This study included 22 children with CD in whom the disease remained undiagnosed until they had presented with hematological abnormalities, such as anemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia or prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Anemia was present alone in 19 (86.3%) patients, and leukopenia coexisted with anemia in 2 (9%) patients. Thrombocytopenia was found alone in 1 (4.5%) patient. Twelve patients had an iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency coexisted with zinc and vitamin B-12 deficiency in 3 patients, copper and vitamin B-12 deficiency in two, vitamin B-12 deficiency in two, zinc deficiency in two and one patient had combined iron, zinc, and copper deficiency. Males had significantly lower values of hemoglobin (p < 0.05) and MCV (p < 0.05) compared to the females. In conclusion CD should be included in the differential diagnosis in children who present with anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia or prolonged PT and APTT, especially in geographical areas where the prevalence of the CD is high. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.