Document Type
Article
Department
Medical College Pakistan; Medicine; Gastroenterology
Abstract
Objectives: Celiac Disease (CD) is a disorder that impacts physical, social and emotional health. Requiring life-long treatment, it poses a major economic burden on the healthcare system. Our objective was to study CD in patients from initial presentation to diagnosis and to ascertain the effect of a low resource setting on improvement in disease process.
Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at a Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Medical records of patients (≥ 18 years) from 2008 to 2018 with a diagnosis of CD were reviewed. Data on demographics, presenting complaints, investigations, endoscopy results and follow up visits was collected.
Results: One hundred and twenty-six patients were included (61.6% females, mean age 35.5 years). The most common intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms were abdominal pain (56.3%) and fatigue (24.6%) respectively. After microcytic anemia (36.5%), increased ALT (27.2%) was the most common laboratory derangement. On endoscopy, visible fissuring (29.4%) and atrophic mucosa (29.4%) were reported. Biopsy findings showed increased intraepithelial lymphocytes (92.9%) and villous atrophy (77.8%). Improvement in at least one of three parameters (symptoms, laboratory values or EGD) was reported by 42.0% of subjects, whereas 48.4% subjects were lost to follow-up.
Conclusion: The most commonly reported symptoms by CD patients were abdominal pain, diarrhea and anemia. Thus, patients presenting with vague abdominal symptoms and anemia should be worked up for CD. A concerning majority of subjects was lost to follow up for reasons such as inability to afford advised GFD and a poor understanding of the disease process.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences
DOI
10.12669/pjms.38.3.4446
Recommended Citation
Arshad, V.,
Inam, M.,
Awan, S.,
Ismail, F.
(2022). Clinical spectrum of celiac disease in adults at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 38((3Part-I)), 445-449.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_mc/665
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.