Researchers at Orebro University Hospital, Orebro, and the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; and the Universities of Naples and Salerno, Italy examined the risk of developing epilepsy in a nationwide population-based sample of >28,000 patients with biopsy-verified celiac disease (CD). The absolute risk of future epilepsy in patients with CD was 92/100,000 person-years (excess risk = 27/100,000 person-years), and the risk was independent of age. The hazard ratio (HR) for having at least 2 interactions with health care due to epilepsy was 1.41. In those patients with epilepsy treated with AEDs, the increased risk of epilepsy was 1.43. [1]
COMMENT. Celiac disease carries a moderately increased risk of epilepsy, and patients with epilepsy are at increased risk of future CD. The increased risk of epilepsy is present both before and after CD diagnosis, indicative of shared risk factors and supportive of an immunological etiology for epilepsy. [2]