the terms latent and silent celiac disease are used to refer to patients who have inherited the genes that predispose them to celiac disease but have not yet developed the symptoms or signs of celiac disease. latent celiac disease refers specifically to patients who have abnormal antibody blood tests for celiac disease but who have normal small intestines and no signs or symptoms of celiac disease. for example: some patients may have had a childhood onset of celiac disease and the disease may have been successfully treated with a gluten-free diet. the patients' intestines may have resumed a normal appearance and function and they may have no signs or symptoms of celiac disease. some patients with celiac disease in childhood abandon the gluten-free diet as adults yet they remain free of the signs or symptoms of celiac disease. in both of the above instances the celiac disease is latent and the patients can develop signs and symptoms of celiac disease later in life. silent celiac disease refers to patients who have abnormal antibody blood tests for celiac disease as well as loss of villi in the small intestine but have no symptoms or signs of celiac disease even on a normal diet that contains gluten. like patients with latent celiac disease these patients can develop signs or symptoms of celiac disease later in life.
what is latent and silent celiac disease?