Adult celiac disease and recurrent pericarditis

Abstract

Three patients presented with acute pericarditis. No cause was found and, in each case, the pericarditis was recurrent. Investigation revealed evidence of malabsorption due to adult celiac disease. Two of the patients responded to a gluten-free diet and cortiscosteroid therapy. The third patient responded to a gluten-free diet alone and remains well. Celiac disease is a multisystem disorder in which extraintestinal involvement is common. Recurrent pericarditis may be such a manifestation.

Cardiomyopathy, pericarditis and myocarditis in a population‐based cohort of inpatients with coeliac disease

“…This study was based on Swedish national register data from some 14 000 patients with CD and some 69 000 reference individuals matched for age and sex. The number of patients with heart disease in this study exceeds that of all previous studies on CD and heart disease [9–18], and gives the study considerable power to identify infrequent events. This enabled us to perform important stratifications for sex and age.…”

“…All these studies were, however, based on few positive events, and with the exception of the prospective Danish study [10], they were cross‐sectional and did not take into account whether CD preceded or ensued heart disease. To our knowledge, research on CD and pericarditis is limited to case‐reports [16–18]. Hence, there is a need for further research in this area.…”