Prevalence of coeliac disease in patients with thyroid autoimmunity

The occurrence of autoimmune thyroid disorders among patients with coeliac disease (CD) is well documented, but the exact prevalence of CD among patie nts with autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATD) is as yet unclear. We screened 1 50 newly diagnosed patients with ATD by serum endomysial antibody detection (EmA), In 5 subjects (3.3%) EmA positivity was found; all underwent jejuna l biopsy. On gluten-free diet an excellent clinical and histological respon se was recorded with an improvement of hypothyroidism and reduction of the thyroxine dosage, Our data suggest a significant high prevalence (3.3%) of CD in patients with ATD, in particular with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.