(image from wikipedia)
Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) is the skin manifestation of Celiac Disease.
In a recent study conducted at the Celiac Disease Center, Department of Medicine, at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (NYC, researchers: Suneeta Krishnareddy, Suzanne K Lewis and Peter H. Green) patients with DH alone, and patients with both DH and Celiac Disease were studied to compare clinical presentations. The researchers concluded that patients with both Celiac Disease and DH showed a higher prevalence of villous atrophy, than patients with DH alone. “However, the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, and lymphoma occurred at a similar rate in patients with DH and in patients with CD without DH.“ The researchers recommend patients with DH be screened for nutritional deficiencies, even in the absence of typical celiac symptoms.
Following is the abstract details published on PubMed.gov (US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health):
ABSTRACT
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a skin manifestation of celiac disease (CD), and is often the presenting and only complaint. There are few data comparing those with DH who present only with DH and those with DH who present mainly due to CD.
We compared the prevalence of features usually associated with CD in those who presented with DH with patients in whom DH was part of a typical CD presentation.
A cross-sectional study of a prospectively maintained database of 1,050 patients with CD was analyzed. Only biopsy-diagnosed patients were analyzed for small bowel findings. All patients were included in the analysis of autoimmune diseases and lymphoma incidence. Small bowel biopsies were classified into mild and severe.
The prevalence of villous atrophy was significantly higher in the patients who presented with CD than in those who presented with DH alone (61.8 vs. 12.5 %; p = 0.005). However, the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune diseases, and lymphoma occurred at a similar rate in patients with DH and patients with CD without DH.
Patients who present with CD and concurrent DH are more likely to have more severe pathology than those with predominantly DH, although nutritional deficiencies are similar between the two groups. It is important to screen for nutritional deficiencies in patients with DH, irrespective of the presence of typical CD manifestations.
