GASTROENTEROLOGY

Eosinophilic oesophagitis 

  • Chronic inflammatory, allergic disorder of the esophagus
  • Triggered by food – commonly milk, wheat, soy, eggs, seafood
  • 1 in 100 adults
  • 1 in 10,000 children
  • history of other atopic conditions
    • eg asthma, allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis
  • more common in males,
  • Usually present < 40 years
  • Clinical
    • difficulty swallowing or food impaction
    • Dysphagia, heart burn
    • Stricture lumen
    • Food bolus obstruction
    • Minimal improvement with acid suppression
    • Children
      • difficulty feeding
      • failure to thrive
      • vomiting
    • EoE is accompanied by a diffuse loss of oesophageal compliance. In critical disease, patients present with food bolus impaction as a result of a narrow-calibre oesophagus and dysmotility.
    • advanced forms of the disease are at risk of spontaneous oesophageal perforation (Boerhaave’s syndrome) and perforation during endoscopy
  • Diagnostic criteria
  • symptoms related to oesophageal dysfunction
  • ≥15 eosinophils/hpf on oesophageal biopsy
  • persistence of eosinophilia after a proton pump inhibitor trial
  • secondary causes of oesophageal eosinophilia excluded.
    • Other causes of oesophageal eosinophillia
      • GORD – Food impaction rare, NO ATOPY FEATURES
      • Achalsia
      • Crohn’s
      • Parasitic infection
      • Drug hypersensitivity
      • Scleroderma
      • Coeliac
      • Hyper-eosinophillic syndromE
  • Treatment
    • Treatment involves avoiding trigger foods and corticosteroid therapy
    • Dietary
      • Targeted elimination of common causes
        • Allergy testing typically involves skin prick or patch tests of a wide variety of foods.
        • Although this approach is often preferred by patients, the success rate is <50
      • Six food elimination diet – avoidance of the six food types that are most commonly associated with allergy.
        • MilK
        • Wheat
        • Eggs
        • Soy
        • Nuts
        • seafood. 
        • achieved histological remission in approximately 72% of patients
      • The elemental diet
        • food intake with a liquid formula composed of amino acids, carbohydrates, fats and minerals. 
        • success rate of elemental diets is in the order of 90% 
        • rarely tolerated by patients
        • Barriers include high cost, unpleasant taste and the need to forgo all food, with the social limitations that entails.
    • Topical glucocorticoids
      • Swallow solutions that are normally for inhalation 🡪 coat the esophagus
    • Fluticasone MDI – swallow with water Or budesonide liquid
      • No oral intake 30 minutes following
    • Endoscopic Dilation strictures

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