What will be the adult height of coeliac patients?

Eur J Pediatr. 1991 Apr;150(6):407-9. doi: 10.1007/BF02093719.

Abstract

We studied three groups of patients with coeliac disease: group 1 = 95 adult patients with gastro-intestinal symptoms diagnosed after reaching adult height, 41 of whom had had symptoms during childhood; group 2 = 23 adult patients with classic coeliac disease treated before or during puberty; group 3 = 11 coeliac children with short stature and no gastro-intestinal symptoms diagnosed and treated before or during puberty. We evaluated the adult height in groups 1 and 2 and the growth during the first years of diet in group 3. Our study leads us to the following conclusions. Dieting leads to a modest increase (on average not more than 3 cm) of the final height of coeliac patients. Subjects with gastro-intestinal symptoms who have been treated before adulthood reach a mean height similar to the normal population and have a slightly better adult height than non-treated subjects. This difference seems to exist only in men and this might be related to puberty evolving more rapidly in women receiving treatment. Subjects without symptoms during childhood reach a normal final height even without treatment. In our patients, early treatment seemed to have no great effect on adult height.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Body Height*
  • Celiac Disease / complications
  • Celiac Disease / diet therapy
  • Celiac Disease / physiopathology*
  • Child
  • Digestive System / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Growth Disorders / etiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Puberty / physiology