Original paper
Celiac disease in children of West Pomerania

Introduction: The analysis of the incidence of celiac disease (CD) among children in West Pomerania conducted in the years 1976-1998 showed that the intestinal form of CD (CDJ) in that region is the rarest in Poland and its incidence is systematically decreasing. The aim of the study: To evaluate of the CD frequency, its form and the age of children in West Pomerania who have come down with CD in the last 29 years. Material and methods: 97 children with CD born in the last 29 years (1976-2004) were examined by means of retrospective analysis. CD incidence was presented by means of the morbidity index (MI) and the cumulative index (CI). CD was diagnosed according to Interlaken or Budapest criteria. Results: The incidence of CD was the highest in children born in the years of 1988 to 1996: CI=1:3000, MI=3.2. For children born earlier it was lower and amounted to: 1982-1987: CI=1:3500, MI=2.7 and 1976-1982: CI>1:5000, MI=1.7-1.8. The lowest CD incidence was observed in children born in the period 2002-2004: CI=1:7000-8000 and MI=1.4-1.2. The intestinal form was diagnosed in 69 children (71%), the extraintestinal form (CDEJ) in 15, and the asymptomatic form (CDA) in 13 children (screening tests in the CD risk groups). CD was diagnosed at the average age of 7.3. In children with CDJ the diagnosis was the earliest – 5.8 years of age – while in children with CDEJ and CDA it was the latest, i.e. when they were 11.2 and 12.2 years old. Conclusions: 1. In the 1980s and the 1990s in the region of West Pomerania the incidence of the intestinal form of celiac disease was low and the diagnosis age was high. 2. The diagnosis age and the incidence of the extraintestinal and asymptomatic forms are the same as in the other parts of Poland.