Eosinophilic oesophagitis: an emerging important cause for undiagnosed dysphagia

The finding of an eosinophilic infiltration of the oesophageal epithelium has long been thought to be a result of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. The association between this finding, an abnormal endoscopic appearance to the oesophagus with ridges and furrows in the oesophagus, and an association with recurrent food impactions in young men has also been described. It was first proposed that this was a distinct clinicopathological syndrome in 1993. Since that series, there have been increasing reports in the literature.

This retrospective case series describes eight patients with eosinophilic oesophagitis. The mode of presentation, history, endoscopic findings, and histopathology of this condition are discussed. The first of these cases is described to illustrate the features of this condition, the salient features from the remaining cases are presented in tabular form.

The syndrome of eosinophilic oesophagitis is considered a rare cause of dysphagia, however we report eight recent presentations to our general gastroenterological practice in Wellington, New Zealand and propose that it may be an important cause for dysphagia where no diagnosis has been forthcoming.