Prevalence of celiac disease and symptoms in relatives of patients with celiac disease

Background and Objectives: We determined the prevalence and clinical features of celiac disease (CD) in family-members (FMs) of a population-based cohort of index cases. Materials and Methods: We recruited 108 CD index cases: mean age at diagnosis, 23.0 years (range, 1.5-45.2 years); 81(75%) female. Three-hundred twelve (mean age, 41.6 years; 219 [70%] female) of FMs were analyzed. 153 (49%) were parents, 24 (7.7%) were children, 69 (22.2%) were siblings, 66(21.1%) were second degree FMs. Results: CD was diagnosed in 63 subjects (20.1%, 21 males and 42 females, mean age 34.24 years, range 2-81 years). Classic, subclinical, and silent forms of CD were recognized in 18 [28.6% (6 siblings, 6 parents, 3 child, 3 second-degree FMs], in 27 [45.8% (9 siblings, 3 parent, 15 second-degree FMs], and in 18 [28.6% (6 siblings, 6 parents, 6 second-degree FMs) cases, respectively. Most of patients suffering from "classical" (18/63 patients, 28.7%) and "subclinical" (27/63 patients, 42.9%) form of CD were older than patients suffering from "silent " CD (18/63 patients, 28.7%) (p=0.01). Most of patients suffering from subclinical disease showed autoimmune diseases (Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and psoriasis), and other atypical symptoms, as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), were also recorded. Conclusions: We found an high-prevalence of CD between CD FMs, and most of them were olygo- or asymptomatic.