Celiac Crisis in a Young Woman: Raising Awareness of a Life-Threatening Condition

Abstract

Celiac crisis is a rare, acute, and life-threatening presentation of celiac disease. Its clinical presentations consist of severe watery non-bloody diarrhea, electrolyte disturbances (i.e. hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia, and metabolic acidosis), hypoproteinemia, and dehydration. Here we present a 33-year-old woman who referred with profuse diarrhea, weight loss, hemodynamic instability, hypokalemia, hypoproteinemia, ascites, pancytopenia, and iron deficiency anemia. She used herbal medicines for constipation and had severe weakness after her childbirth. The patient was diagnosed as having celiac disease through pathological and serological evaluations 10 months earlier.

Diagnosis of celiac crisis after ruling out the other causes of resistant celiac was made and she was treated with steroids.  

Key Words: Celiac crisis, Celiac disease, diarrhea