Celiac disease and keratoconjunctivitis. Occurrence with thrombocytopenic purpura.

A patient had a rare association of celiac disease, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, and autoimmune thrombocytopenia. Both the malabsorption and the thrombocytopenia responded to prednisone therapy. The development of three different autoimmune disorders in this patient may be related to the presence of HLA-B8 and HLA-Dw3, the prevalence of which is known to be increased in celiac disease and keratoconjunctivitis sicca and that of HLA-B8 in autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. Despite the fact that thrombocytopenia is rarely encountered in celiac disease, it is suggested that an autoimmune mechanism should be excluded in patients with this combination.