• Aline Ventura, Marcelo Fernando Ronsoni, Maria Beatriz Cacese Shiozawa, Esther Buzaglo Dantas-Corrêa, Maria Heloisa Busi da Silva Canalli, Leonardo de Lucca Schiavon, and Janaína Luz Narciso-Schiavon.
• Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2014 Dec 1; 132 (6): 364371364-71.

Context And ObjectiveCeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder with an average prevalence of 1% in Europe and the United States. Because of strong European ancestry in southern Brazil, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of celiac disease among autoimmune thyroiditis patients.Design And SettingCross-sectional study in a public university hospital.MethodsThis cross-sectional prevalence study included autoimmune thyroiditis patients who were tested for anti-endomysial and anti-transglutaminase antibodies between August 2010 and July 2011.ResultsFifty-three patients with autoimmune thyroiditis were included; 92.5% were women, with mean age of 49.0 ± 13.5 years. Five patients (9.3%) were serologically positive for celiac disease: three of them (5.6%) were reactive for anti-endomysial antibodies and two (3.7%) for anti-transglutaminase. None of them exhibited anemia and one presented diarrhea. Endoscopy was performed on two patients: one with normal histology and the other with lymphocytic infiltrate and villous atrophy.ConclusionThe prevalence of celiac disease among patients with autoimmune thyroid disease was 9.3%; one patient complained of diarrhea and none presented anemia. Among at-risk populations, like autoimmune thyroiditis patients, the presence of diarrhea or anemia should not be used as a criterion for indicating celiac disease investigation. This must be done for all autoimmune thyroiditis patients because of its high prevalence.

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