RESEARCH ARTICLE Unusually High Incidence of Paediatric Coeliac Disease in Sweden during the Period

Objective The prevalence of coeliac disease in Sweden during the “epidemic period ” (1984−1996) was one of the highest in the world. The aim of this study was to assess the coeliac disease incidence in our region over the 41-year period, and how diagnostic activity and diagnostic accuracy were affected by the introduction of antibody testing. We also looked into how patients with mild enteropathy were evaluated. Methods In the county of Östergötland in Sweden, 2790 paediatric patients were investigated for sus-pected coeliac disease between 1973 and 2013. Notes were scrutinised for data on sex, age, histopathological reports and final diagnosis. For comparative purposes this period was divided into three sub-periods (1973−1983, 1984−1996 and 1997−2013) named pre-epidemic, epidemic and post-epidemic. Results Coeliac disease diagnosis was received by 1,030 patients. The peak incidence rate, 30