High Prevalence of Silent Celiac Disease in Preschool Children Screened with IgA/IgG Antiendomysium Antibodies

Abstract

Prevalence of celiac disease in the study population was much higher than expected on the basis of antigliadin antibody-based studies. The screening system used detected celiac cases in which there was IgA-deficiency and those in which there was not and also those negative for antigliadin antibodies. The findings suggest the importance of the primary testing of autoantibodies in future celiac disease screening policies.