Evaluation of Cardiac Functions and Electrocardiogram Parameters in Children with Celiac Disease

We aimed to evaluate cardiac functions and electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters that are determinant in the development of atrial and ventricular arrhythmia in children with celiac disease.Twenty-eight patients with celiac disease followed up between March 2017 and June 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. 33 age-and sex-matched healthy children were included as the control group. Echocardiography (ECHO) and 12-lead ECG were performed in all patients and controls. Of the 28 patients, 16 were girls (57.1%) and their mean age was 9.46±4.20 years. The mean duration time of celiac disease was 2.17±2.21 years. The Tp-e interval, QTc, QTc dispersion, and Tp-e / QT ratio were detected longer in celiac patients than in the control group (p <0.05). The patients were divided into 2 groups as seronegative (patients adhering to the gluten free-diet (GFD)) and seropositive celiac patients (patients not adhering to the GFD). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age and gender. The Tp-e interval, Tp-e / QT and Tp-e / QTc was determined longer in seropositive celiac patients. We found prolonged Tp-e interval, QTc, QTc dispersion and Tp-e / QT ratio in patients with celiac disease. In other words, we only detected the ventricular arrhythmia indicators as longer. In addition, we found prolonged Tp-e interval, Tp-e / QT and Tp-e / QTc in patients not adhering to a strict GFD. We detected that untreated celiac patients have a higher risk of ventricular arrhythmia. We think that further studies with more pediatric celiac patients who have longer duration of disease are needed for precise interpretation.