@article{Onal_Nalcacioglu_Kalayci_2023, title={Evaluation of Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Celiac Patients: A Single Center Experience: Characteristics of Pediatric Celiac Patients}, volume={10}, url={https://medscidiscovery.com/index.php/msd/article/view/870}, DOI={10.36472/msd.v10i3.870}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder among genetically predisposed subjects exposed to gluten-containing foods. It is now appreciated that CD is now recognized as a common condition among persons of various ethnic groups and both adults and children, and that affects many organ systems. This study was conducted to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of pediatric celiac patients.</p> <p><strong>Patients and Methods:</strong> A total of 122 individuals diagnosed with CD by serologic and histologic assessments between January 2010 and December 2016 were enrolled in the study.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> : Forty-three patients were boys (35.2%), and seventy-nine were girls (64.8%). The mean age was 12.6±5.7 years, and the mean age at diagnosis was 8.8±5.1 years. The most frequent presenting symptoms were abdominal pain (41%), failure to thrive (36.1%), and diarrhea (34.4%). Adherence to a gluten-free diet was 67.2%. Family history of CD was positive in 2.5% of patients. The most frequent comorbidities were iron deficiency anemia (36.1%), vitamin D deficiency (12.3%), and type-1 diabetes mellitus (7.4%). Endoscopic assessments revealed dentations in 61.5% of cases, and histologic evaluations told that Marsh 3b was the most frequent histologic grade (27.9%). IgA and IgG transglutaminase antibody levels were decreased significantly following the initiation of the gluten-free diet.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Celiac disease faces a very varied picture in terms of clinic and laboratory at the time of diagnosis and in the follow-up. Early diagnosis of CD is critical to prevent long-term complications; currently, the only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. </p>}, number={3}, journal={Medical Science and Discovery}, author={Onal, Hulya Gozde and Nalcacioglu, Hulya and Kalayci, Ayhan Gazi}, year={2023}, month={Mar.}, pages={136–142} }