Repeat Biopsy to Assess Duodenal Healing in Children With Celiac Disease and Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders.

The aim of the study was to determine the correlation between duodenal mucosal biopsies and tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin A (tTG-IgA) levels in pediatric patients with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease (CD) and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID) who have had repeat duodenal biopsies after initiating a gluten-free diet. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed of children with CD and EGID seen at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between 2003 and 2018. Data collected included duodenal biopsy pathology, celiac serology including tTG-IgA, and symptom reports. Duodenal healing was defined as normal villous architecture and no intraepithelial lymphocytes. These data were compared with tTG-IgA level. Data were analyzed with Fisher exact test and t test methods. Results: Thirty-nine patients had normal IgA and diagnoses of both CD and EGID. At second biopsy, 44% (17/39) of patients showed no histologic evidence of active CD and 36% (14/39) of patients had negative tTG-IgA values. Sixty percent (9/15) of patients with no evidence of CD on biopsy had abnormal tTG-IgA levels, and 57% (8/14) of patients with normal tTG-IgA levels had evidence of active disease on biopsy. Conclusions: The data show that an abnormal tTG-IgA drawn after initiation of a gluten-free diet is not correlated with duodenal mucosal injury in pediatric patients with CD and EGID. This suggests that serologic surveillance with tTG-IgA is not sufficient to monitor CD intestinal healing in this patient cohort. Persistent elevations of tTG-IgA in CD patients with normal duodenal biopsies should prompt investigation into other potential causes.

Lymphocytic gastritis in pediatric celiac disease.

An increase in gastric intraepithelial lymphocytes has been observed in some patients with the typical small intestinal changes of celiac disease. To date, no clinical parameters have been described that identify the subset of patients more likely to have gastric involvement. In this study we compared the clinical features of celiac disease patients with and without lymphocytic gastritis to determine if the presence of gastric involvement at diagnosis portends a more severe form of celiac disease. We reviewed the pathology reports and hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides of 304 patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease diagnosed over an 11-year period. Thirty-nine of these patients had lymphocytic gastritis. Compared to patients without gastric involvement, those with lymphocytic gastritis were statistically more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier age and present with more profound laboratory findings and duodenal mucosal damage compared to patients with celiac disease without gastric involvement. These findings indicate that in the pediatric population, the presence of lymphocytic gastritis in celiac disease defines a unique group of patients with more severe disease (by clinical and laboratory measures) at the time of diagnosis.

Anthropometric, serologic, and laboratory correlation with villous blunting in pediatric celiac disease: diabetics are different.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the correlation between level of tissue transglutaminase (TTG) and endomysial antibodies (EMAs) to different degrees of intestinal damage in celiac disease (CD) children with [presence of diabetes mellitus (DM)+] and without [absence of diabetes mellitus (DM-)] type I diabetes. We also assessed the correlation between albumin, hemoglobin (hgb), transaminases, symptom presence, age of cereal introduction, and body mass index (BMI) to different degrees of intestinal damage. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients seen at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between January 2002 and June 2006 revealed 60 children (mean age 9.8 y) who had TTG, EMA, and other laboratory tests performed at time of histologic CD diagnosis from duodenal biopsies. Twenty-one of 60 children had DM. All children were stratified for histologic damage according to Marsh classification. RESULTS: Overall, Marsh (M) I lesions were seen in 2 (3.3%), MII in 2 (3.3%), IIIa in 14 (23.3%), IIIb in 15 (25%), and IIIc in 27 (45%); no differences in DM- versus DM+ groups. TTG was positive in all and EMA was positive in all but 1 child. Among DM- and DM+ children, median TTG and EMA values were higher with MIIIa-c, respectively. For DM-, BMI percentile, hgb, and mean corpuscular volume were lower with advancing histology. However, in DM+, no significant correlation of BMI percentile, hgb, or mean corpuscular volume with grade was observed. Cereal introduction age, hypoalbuminemia, and hepatitis did not differ between MIIIa-c in any group. CONCLUSIONS: TTG and EMA mean serum values are higher in CD children with severe enteropathy (MIIIc) than in those with mild enteropathy (MIIIa). CD in DM is accompanied by serologic and histologic findings identical to that of a non-DM CD population. As CD is identified through screening in DM, it is often silent and not associated with symptoms, growth abnormalities, or anemia. Clinical parameters (height, weight, hgb, symptoms) are not helpful in identifying silent CD in DM.

Bone mineral content deficits of the spine and whole body in children at time of diagnosis with celiac disease.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine whether children with celiac disease (CD) have deficits in spine (SP) and whole body (WB) bone mineral content (BMC) at time of diagnosis, and whether the deficits are related to altered growth and body composition. The secondary aim was to examine the effect of histological grade on BMC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of children who had undergone a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan at the time of diagnosis with CD between October 1, 2003, and June 15, 2006, were compared with a healthy reference sample of similar age and race from the same geographic region in the United States. SP and WB BMC were expressed as sex-specific z scores relative to age and relative to height to assess differences in the CD group versus controls. Pearson correlation, t tests, and analysis of variance were performed to determine predictors of BMC. RESULTS: Forty-four children (mean age 10.6 +/- 3.4 years; 77% female, 96% white) with CD were evaluated and compared with 338 healthy children. Children with CD were shorter than children of similar age and sex. SP and WB BMC for age z scores were significantly lower in the CD group compared with controls. When adjusted for height, significant deficits in WB BMC persisted in patients with CD. Low SP and WB BMC correlated with advanced histological grade in CD. Low body mass index correlated with low WB BMC in CD. CONCLUSIONS: Newly diagnosed children with CD may benefit from screening for low bone mineral content. Patients with low body mass index and those with advanced histological damage (Marsh grade IIIc) particularly may be at risk for osteopenia.