Assessment of Cardiac Functions in Children Suffering from Celiac Disease

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder that occurs in genetically predisposed individuals. Among the complications of celiac disease, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and autoimmune myocarditis are popular causes of considerable mortality and morbidity. The objective of this study is to evaluate the heart functioning in CD children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted out on 40 children (twenty Patients diagnosed as having celiac disease and twenty healthy, age and sex matched children send as control group). All participants underwent basic laboratory investigations. Every child had an echocardiogram, which comprised both traditional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging.

Results: The conventional echocardiographic assessment parameters (LVEED, LVESD, septal thickness, EF% FS%, E/A and TAPSE) were insignificantly different between both groups. There was no statistically substantial variation in mitral anulus velocity (S) and E/A among both groups. According to mean value of myocardial performance index (MPI) it was statistically significant greater in celiac disease of the affected group contrasted to the control group (P value 0.002).

Conclusions: The tissue doppler echocardiogram can identify subclinical early stage of cardiac involvement in CD patients.