The risk of celiac disease in 107 families with at least two affected siblings.
Journal article, 2004

OBJECTIVES: Screening for celiac disease (CD) in the apparently healthy members of 107 nuclear families with two affected siblings (sib pair) and estimating the risk of CD in siblings and parents. METHODS: One hundred seven families from Sweden and southern Norway with at least two affected children were investigated. Frozen sera from 187 of the 192 healthy parents and from 94 of 95 siblings without diagnosed CD were examined for total immunoglobulin A (IgA) and anti-endomysial antibodies (EMA). Individuals with positive antibody titers underwent small intestinal biopsy. RESULTS: Positive test for EMA was found in 6 of 94 (6.3%) siblings without previously diagnosed CD and in 8 of 189 (4.2%) parents. CD was confirmed by small intestinal biopsy in all siblings and seven parents. The estimated risk for CD in multiply affected families was 26.3% for siblings and 12.9% for parents. An unexpected male preponderance was found among the new CD cases (10 males, 3 females). CONCLUSION: The risk of CD in the members of nuclear families with two affected children is approximately three times higher than that when only one child is affected. The high male preponderance of new cases is unexpected and could not be explained fully by more silent disease in males as compared with females. Considering the high level of knowledge about CD in these families, the number of undiagnosed cases is surprisingly high. The authors suggest that serologic screening should be offered to all first-degree relatives of patients with CD.

Adult

genetics

Adolescent

Norway

Sweden

Male

Autoantibodies

Sex Factors

epidemiology

Preschool

Middle Aged

Humans

blood

Aged

blood

Pedigree

Celiac Disease

Child

Risk Factors

Risk Assessment

Biological Markers

epidemiology

Infant

analysis

Child

Prevalence

Genetic Predisposition to Disease

blood

epidemiology

Female

Author

Audur Gudjonsdottir

University of Gothenburg

Staffan Nilsson

Chalmers, Department of Mathematical Statistics

University of Gothenburg

Johan Ek

Bengt Kristiansson

University of Gothenburg

Henry Ascher

University of Gothenburg

Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

0277-2116 (ISSN) 1536-4801 (eISSN)

Vol. 38 3 338-42

Subject Categories

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES

PubMed

15076637

More information

Created

10/7/2017