Clinical masks of celiac disease in children: examples from practice

Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune disease, the basis of its pathogenesis is damage of the mucous membrane of the small intestine by gluten. The prevalence of celiac disease is steadily rising and occurs in both children and adults. Clinical manifestations of celiac disease can be typical, i.e. the development of diarrhea, steatorrhea, malabsorption, and atypical ones. The aim: to deepen the knowledge of doctors about the polymorphism of clinical forms of celiac disease in children. Clinical case. The article highlights three cases of atypical course of celiac disease and gluten-sensitive disease. Various clinical forms of gluten intolerance in children are shown, which were manifested by recurrent alopecia, persistent seborrhea, pronounced abdominal syndrome after taking a gluten-containing product in combination with rapid physical activity. Conclusions. Іn addition to celiac disease, there are a number of that make their recognition complicated and delay their treatment. That is why timely clinical and laboratory diagnosis of gluten-sensitive diseases is important, and it allows us to recognize the disease on time, to prescribe treatment and thereby to optimize the prognosis. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.