[Celiac disease: report of 20 cases in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil].

This paper shows that celiac disease exists in Northeast of Brazil and can be one of the causes of malnutrition in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The authors present a study of 20 cases of celiac disease in the State of Rio Grande do Norte where there had not been any cases diagnosed before 1978. Ethnic aspects in the State seem to have influenced the occurrence of the disease since the European miscigenation has been more frequent than that of negroes and local indians. The cases are analysed in this paper and correlated with the literature.