Case-finding in coeliac disease should be intensified

Large-scale screening studies on CD have been published and suggest a prevalence of CD in USA, Europe, Middle-East and Australia of about 1:100. The costs of finding coeliacs hasn't been discussed in these studies. Coeliac disease can be classified to be an important health problem. It might be relevant to have a low threshold for biopsies when screening for coeliac disease. Screening asymptomatics may be harmful for individuals. A lifelong gluten-free diet is not easy to maintain and quality of life may deteriorate. In countries familiar with coeliac disease, the classic pattern of severe malabsorption and cachexia, as described in textbooks, has become rare. CD is not borne in minds of doctors diagnosing dyspepsia and/or irritable bowel disease, or associated auto-immune diseases. The consequence is a delay in diagnosis, with secondary problems as long term auto-immune stimulation, osteoporosis and secondary malignancies. Enteropathy associated T-cell lymphomas are well known, but considering coeliac disease in T-cell lymphomas presenting outside the GE-tract is uncommon. Nation-wide screening programmes have not started, which are common for phenylketonury and other metabolic defects. It is debatable whether coeliacs found by screening adhere to a gluten-free diet similar to symptomatic coeliacs. Whether a gluten-free diet is of benefit to this subgroup is controversial.