CELIAC SYNDROME

Abstract

THE etiology of cystic fibrosis of the pancreas is an unsolved problem. It is not only an interesting puzzle in the abstract but a matter of practical importance, since any hope which there may be of decreasing the incidence of the disease depends on an understanding of its cause. Suggestions as to the causation have included the following: It may be a hereditary disease;¹it may be the result of a dietary deficiency during pregnancy or early infancy^1b; it may be the result of intrauterine infection²or of infection during early infancy. The more immediate mechanism of the production of the changes in the pancreas has also been attributed to obstruction of the large or small ducts^1bor to some abnormality of the secretion of the acinar cells,³with an abnormal viscosity of their products.⁴There is general agreement as to one attribute of