An uncommon association: Celiac disease and dermatomyositis in adults

We describe the case of a patient,with a two-year history of adult dermatom yositis (DM) who developed malabsorption revealing celiac disease, Our obse rvation raises the question of an association between DM and celiac disease as part of a continuum, suggesting that celiac disease may be included wit hin the spectrum of the gastrointestinal manifestations of DM and polymyosi tis (PM). From a practical point of view: our data indicate that the diagno sis of celiac disease should be suspected in PM/DM patients exhibiting mala bsorption syndrome. Based on our findings, we further emphasize that an eva luation for celiac disease, including anti-gliadin antibodies, anti-endomys ium antibody and tissue trans-glutaminase antibodies should be considered i n PM/DM patients presenting with unusual and unexplained gastrointestinal f eatures. This could lead to the early management of such patients, resultin g in decreased morbidity (i.e., malnutrition and malignancy) related to mis diagnosed celiac disease.