Background: Endoscopy provides an opportunity to diagnose unsuspected celiac disease.
Methods: We prospectively identified patients undergoing endoscopy for reasons other than the evaluation of diarrhea or suspected malabsorption, who had endoscopic signs in the duodenum suggestive of celiac disease and in whom villous atrophy was confirmed. Patients were assessed for nutritional deficiencies, reduced bone density, parameters of calcium metabolism, and malignancies.
Results: Nine patients (3 women and 6 men) were identified among 1749 patients undergoing endoscopy between January 1990 and May 1998, representing a rate of unsuspected celiac disease of 1 per 194 endoscopies. The duodenal abnormalities were as follows: reduced or absent folds in 6, scalloped folds in 5, mosaic appearance in 3, and mucosal fissures in 2. Assessment revealed iron deficiency in 5, folate deficiency in 1, osteopenia in 4, osteoporosis in 1, and hypocalciuria in 4. Three had malignancies associated with celiac disease, 2 esophageal squamous carcinomas, and 1 jejunal adenocarcinoma.
Conclusions: Unsuspected celiac disease can be diagnosed at endoscopy by recognition of changes in the duodenum. When detected, patients have one or more manifestations of the disease. Celiac disease is more common in the United States than previously considered and endoscopy provides an opportunity to establish the diagnosis.