No increased mortality in 109,000 first-degree relatives of celiac individuals

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown an excess mortality in individuals with celiac disease (CD). However, it is unknown if also first-degree relatives (FDRs) to celiac patients are at increased risk of death.AimWe aimed to assess mortality in FDRs to celiac patients.MethodsIndividuals with CD were identified through biopsy reports (equal to Marsh grade III). Each celiac individual was matched on sex, age, county and calendar year with up to five control individuals. Through Swedish healthcare registries we identified all FDRs (father, mother, sibling, offspring) of CD individuals and controls. Through Cox regression we calculated hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality (all-cause death, circulatory, cancer and other).ResultsWe identified 109,309 FDRs of celiac individuals and 549,098 FDRs of controls. Overall mortality was increased in FDRs to celiac individuals (HR = 1.02, 95%CI = 1.00–1.04, p = 0.03). This corresponded to an excess risk of 5.9 deaths per 100,000 person-years of follow-up. When limiting follow-up to time since celiac diagnosis in the index individual, we found no increased risk of death (HR = 1.01; 95%CI = 0.98–1.03).ConclusionFDRs to individuals with CD are at increased risk of death. This excess risk is however minimal and unlikely to be of any clinical importance to the individual.