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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1527114
This article is part of the Research Topic Celiac Disease In Children View all articles

Clinical presentations and outcomes of celiac disease in children and adolescents at a tertiary care center in Lebanon

Provisionally accepted
Dana Andari Dana Andari RIma Hanna Wakim RIma Hanna Wakim Sarah Khafaja Sarah Khafaja Nadine Yazbeck Nadine Yazbeck *
  • American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Studies on the clinical presentation of celiac disease and its impact on the growth of children in Lebanon are limited. The aim of this 10-year-retrospective study was to describe the common clinical presentations, diagnostic modalities, and the effect of the gluten-free-diet (GFD) on the growth of children and adolescents with celiac disease. Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of subjects aged 6 months to 18 years who visited the Pediatric Gastroenterology clinic at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) between January 1, 2013, and June 30, 2023, and who were diagnosed with celiac disease based on serological markers and/or changes on histology of the small intestinal mucosal biopsies for those who underwent upper endoscopy, or HLA typing expressing the HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 gene for few subjects.The study included 90 patients with celiac disease, of whom 64 were newly diagnosed during the study period. The mean age at diagnosis of celiac disease was 6.93 years. Females represented 60% of the pediatric subjects with celiac disease. The most common symptoms reported were abdominal pain (51.1%), weight loss or failure to thrive (45.6%), and diarrhea (24.4%). There was a significant increase in the mean weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) and mean body mass index (BMI)-for-age Zscore (BMIZ) 12 months following initiation of GFD; however, the change in height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) at 12 months was not statistically significant. Half of the subjects were in remission at the last clinic follow-up.The most common symptoms that children with celiac disease in this cohort presented with are diarrhea, abdominal pain and failure to thrive. In this cohort, there was a significant increase in the weight parameters with no significant change in the height at 12 months after initiation of the GFD. The recognition of early manifestations, early diagnosis and strict adherence to the diet are of paramount importance to prevent long term complications.

    Keywords: Celiac disease1, gluten-free diet2, growth3, Mediterranean diet4, Children5

    Received: 12 Nov 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Andari, Hanna Wakim, Khafaja and Yazbeck. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nadine Yazbeck, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

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