ab1902

An uncommon association: Celiac disease and dermatomyositis in adults

I. Marie, F. Lecomte, E. Hachulla¹, M. Antonietti², A. François³, H. Levesque, H. Courtois

Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rouen-Boisguillaume, Rouen; ¹Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, Lille; ²Department of Gastroenterology, ³Department of Pathology and Cytology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rouen, Rouen, France.

ABSTRACT
We describe the case of a patient with a two-year history of adult dermatomyositis (DM) who developed malabsorption revealing celiac disease. Our observation raises the question of an association between DM and celiac disease as part of a continuum, suggesting that celiac disease may be included within the spectrum of the gastrointestinal manifestations of DM and polymyositis (PM). From a practical point of view, our data indicate that the diagnosis of celiac disease should be suspected in PM/DM patients exhibiting malabsorption syndrome. Based on our findings, we further emphasize that an evaluation for celiac disease, including anti-gliadin antibodies, anti-endomysium antibody and tissue transglutaminase antibodies should be considered in PM/DM patients presenting with unusual and unexplained gastrointestinal features. This could lead to the early management of such patients, resulting in decreased morbidity (i.e., malnutrition and malignancy) related to misdiagnosed celiac disease.

Key words
Celiac disease, gastrointestinal involvement, malignancy, dermatomyositis, polymyositis.

Please address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. Isabelle Marie, 16 rue Arthur Duval, 76300 Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France.