Journal of Comprehensive Pediatrics
Cardiac Electrophysiological and Functional Findings in Children with Celiac Disease>: An Electrocardiographic and Echocardiographic Study
By Khadijeh Riazi Kermani, Ali Asgari and Mahdi Rafizadeh.
Abstract
Background
Immune-mediated injury in celiac disease (CD) can have consequences beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In children, the extent to which CD is accompanied by measurable changes in cardiac electrical activity or systolic function remains unclear.
Objectives
We compared electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic findings between children with CD and healthy controls and examined whether disease duration or adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) was independently associated with cardiac parameters.
Methods
The cross-sectional sample comprised 52 children with CD and 50 healthy controls with comparable age and sex distributions. Electrocardiographic assessment included the QT interval, heart-rate-corrected QT interval (QTc), QT dispersion (QTd), T-wave peak-to-end interval (Tp-e), Tp-e/QT and Tp-e/QTc ratios, and P-wave dispersion (PWd). Echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular systolic function, including left ventricular ejection fraction. Within the CD group, disease duration and GFD adherence were examined in separate multivariable linear regression models for each cardiac outcome, with age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) as covariates.