Afsaneh Amiri

Celiac disease as a potential cause of idiopathic portal hypertension: a case report

IntroductionIdiopathic portal hypertension is a disorder of unknown etiology, clinically characterized by portal hypertension, splenomegaly and anemia secondary to hypersplenism.Case presentationA 54-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of malaise, weight loss, abdominal swelling and lower limb edema. His paraclinical tests revealed pancytopenia, large ascites, splenomegaly and esophageal varices consistent with portal hypertension. Duodenal biopsy and serologic findings were compatible with celiac disease. His symptoms improved on a gluten-free diet, but his clinical course was further complicated with ulcerative jejunoileitis, and intestinal T-cell lymphoma.ConclusionIt seems that celiac disease, by an increased immune reaction in the splenoportal axis, can result in the development of idiopathic portal hypertension in susceptible affected patients.

Prevalence of Celiac Disease Among Patients with Behcet’s Disease in Iran

Background Behcets disease and Celiac disease, both common in Iran, share many immunopathogenic and clinical features. Based on the possible association between these two diseases, this study is designed to determine the frequency of non-diagnosed celiac disease in patients with Behcet’s disease. Methods The sera of 288 consecutive patients with Behcet’s disease were screened with anti-endomysial antibody and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody for celiac disease. Those with a positive test underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and duodenal biopsies to confirm the diagnosis of celiac disease. The patients with celiac disease were put on a gluten free diet to evaluate its efficacy on the improvement of their lesions. Results Fourteen patients had positive anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody test (two with positive anti-endomysial antibody as well). Duodenal biopsies showed findings compatible with Marsh 3 in one and Marsh 1 in three other patients. All the diagnosed patients with celiac disease responded to the gluten free diet. Conclusion Our findings didn’t support any association between celiac disease and Behcet’s disease in Iranian patients compared to the general population of Iran.

Psoriasis and Coeliac Disease: Is There Any Relationship?

© 2010 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/00015555-0829 Journal Compilation