Onset of coeliac disease after a spontaneous miscarriage during a holiday in Australia: coincidence or causal relationship?

Diarrhoea contracted whilst travelling in a (sub)tropical country often has an infectious cause. However, dietary changes can also be of importance. We describe the case of a 28-year-old woman, who developed severe coeliac disease during a trip in the Australian outback. The nutritional history revealed that the patient's diet contained more wheat products during her trip than she was used to in Holland. Moreover, the onset of symptoms coincided with a spontaneous miscarriage of an 8-week-old embryo. This correlation has been described in several case reports in the literature. However, the pathophysiologic mechanism behind this correlation is unknown. Some speculative mechanisms are proposed here. Further investigations into this relationship could increase our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of coeliac disease. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.