Gluten-Induced Enteropathy

Abstract

Gluten-induced enteropathy is one of the known causes of osteomalacia.¹ The bone disorder is part of the usual sequelae of small-intestine malabsorption and is usually associated with the classic clinical features of the disease, eg, diarrhea, steatorrhea, and weight loss.^1,2 This report describes the clinical, laboratory, and histological features of a 17-year-old girl with gluteninduced enteropathy; the primary symptom was osteomalacia. The disease was otherwise asymptomatic, and most of the clinical and laboratory indices of intestinal function were normal. This case further illustrates the recently recognized wide variability in the clinical expression of gluten-induced enteropathy.^3-5 Patient Summary In March 1972, a 17-year-old girl came to the American University Medical Center with low back pain and difficulty in walking of one year's duration. Her medical history was essentially normal; she had normal physical and mental development and had her menarche at the age of 16. There were no