CLINICAL, PATHOLOGICAL, AND ANTIBODY PATTERN OF LATENT CELIAC-DISEASE- REPORT OF 3 ADULT CASES

We report the clinical, pathological, and serological findings of thre e adult patients with latent celiac disease. The initial intestinal bi opsies, which were normal, were carried out in the first case during a n upper gastrointestinal endoscopy performed for a duodenal ulcer, in the second case for first-degree familiarity with a celiac patient, an d in the third case because of the presence of malabsorption symptoms. In all three cases, intraepithelial lymphocytes were within the norma l range in the first biopsy and cannot, therefore, be considered as a marker of latent celiac disease. In only two of the three patients was it possible to carry out the search for the serum antibodies connecte d with celiac disease at the time of the first biopsy. In both these c ases, the antijejunal antibodies were present before the development o f the intestinal lesions.