A silent or hypo-symptomatic disease can erupt: Acute presentations of Celiac disease

Abstract

Celiac disease is a multi-organ disorder which is highly variable in its clinical expression, presenting multiple enteric and extraintestinal manifestations. However, most of treating physicians and dieticians regard celiac disease as a chronic, gradually evolving, asymptomatic or hypo-symptomatic entity. The present mini-review aims to screen the literature for acute presentations of celiac disease and to increase the awareness of the medical communities, for such a possibility. It appears that the disease can present acutely in multiple symptomatic, phenotypic and laboratory pictures. The acute presentation involves mainly the gastrointestinal tract and adjacentorgans like liver and gallbladder, however, extraintestinal and remote organs presentations can occur.