Prevalence of celiac disease among blood donors in São Paulo: the most populated city in Brazil.

Objective: Celiac disease is a permanent enteropathy caused by the ingestion of gluten, which leads to an immunemediated inflammation of the small intestine mucosa. The prevalence of celiac disease varies among different nations and ethnic backgrounds, and its diversity is determined by genetic and environmental factors. São Paulo city is one of the largest cities in the world, with a vast population and an important history of internal migratory flow from other Brazilian regions, as well as immigration from other, primarily European, countries, resulting in significant miscegenation.

Prevalence of celiac disease in an urban area of Brazil with predominantly European ancestry.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of celiac disease in a group of volunteer blood donors at a blood bank in the city of Curitiba, Brazil through detection of the serum marker immunoglobulin A (IgA) antitransglutaminase antibody.

Methods: Blood samples collected from 2086 healthy subjects at the Paraná State Center for Hematology and Hemotherapy in Curitiba were submitted to ELISA testing for the IgA antitransglutaminase antibody. Positive samples received IgA antiendomysium antibody test through indirect immunofluorescence using human umbilical cord as substrate.

[High resolution chromoendoscopy in the differential diagnosis of neoplastic and non-neoplastic polyps].

Background: Magnifying colonoscopy brought the possibility of precise histologic diagnosis of colorectal lesions through their surface appearance. Despite the high accuracy of magnifying colonoscopy it is a specialized and expensive equipment not available in most medical centers. Due to these reasons the use of conventional colonoscopy with chromoscopy has been raised because this produce can reproduce most of the information previously obtained by magnifying colonoscopy.