ABSTRACT
Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease which develops in genetically predisposed individuals. Is caused by the ingestion of wheat gluten and related proteins of rye and barley that leads to inflammation. This disorder is recognizedas a disease, that may be diagnosed to any age and affects many organ systems. CD is the most common food-sensitive enteropathy in humans, with a prevalenceof 1% in the general population of adults and children. The common presentation symptoms and signs of CD include diarrhea, abdominal distention, abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue, and malnutrition but an atypical manifestation include anemia, osteoporosis, neurological symptoms, hipoproteinemia, hipocalcemia and hipertransaminasemia. The only accepted treatment for CD is a nutriional therapy with a gluten-free diet for lifelong. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests for both endomysial and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies is greater than 90% for diagnosing CD. Duodenal biopsy is still considered by most authors the "gold standard" in the diagnostic process and it should always be performed when clinical suspicion is high, irrespective of the results of serologic testing. In 10% of cases the diagnosis is difficult because of a lack of correlation among serology, clinical and histological findings...
