Celiac Disease and Associated Neurological Conditions

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune disease seen in predisposed individuals and is associated with gluten-containing cereals such as wheat, rye and barley. Celiac disease has also been associated with many neurological disorders including cerebellar ataxia, polyneuropathy, headache, and epilepsy (1,2). Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, neurofi bromatosis (NF), cerebral palsy (CP) and central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities are the other neurological conditions associated with CD (3). In this article, we present 16 different CD patients with neurological symptoms and discuss the overall neurological features of CD in the light of the current literature to emphasize the neurological aspects of CD. ABSTRACT Objective: Celiac disease has been associated with many neurological disorders. In this report, we discuss 16 patients with both celiac disease and neurological symptoms and evaluate the overall neurological features of celiac disease in the light of the current literature to emphasize the neurological aspects of celiac disease. Material and Methods: The medical records of all patients diagnosed with celiac disease between 2010 and 2012 were reviewed. Results: Nine of these 16 cases were female while seven were male with a mean age of 10.34±3.76 years (5-16 years). The reported neurological problems of these 16 children with celiac disease were epilepsy (n=10), mental retardation (n=9), ataxia (n=3), neuropathy (n=1), headache (n=2), febrile seizure (n=1), and neurofi bromatosis type 1 (plus headache) (n=1). Conclusion: Celiac disease may accompany many different neurological conditions. These disorders can share some symptoms such as associated anemia, short stature, and chronic gastrointestinal complaints and the diagnosis of celiac disease may be delayed among patients with neurological disease.