Eosinophilic esophagitis
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is an allergic inflammatory disease in which eosinophils are increased in the esophagus. Eosin is a dye that when used on EE cells turns the inside of the cell red (hence the name eosinophils). Eosinophils are normally found in 1-3% of white blood cells in the body, but patients with EE have a higher count of cells causing inflammation. Patients of EE often have other allergic inflammatory diseases such as asthma, rhinitis and eczema.
The eosinophils cause damage to the tissues of the esophagus, and while EE is a newly discovered disease (within the last century) treatments such as food elimination and specialty diets improve the symptoms.
The most commonly involved foods in dietary restrictions include the following:
| Milk | Corn | Eggs |
| Fish | Beef | Shellfish |
| Soy | Tree nuts | Wheat |
Food elimination diets are necessary when ruling out food allergies causing eosinophilic esophagitis because allergy tests are unable to determine the food causing the allergic reaction. Your child would be on a special diet for one to three months, where either more foods would be eliminated or the original food would be reintroduced. The allergy could be of one or many different food types, thus food elimination does take time to rule out allergies. Find information on the eosinophilic esophagitis program here.
For more information on food elimination and treatments for EE please visit the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders.
Your child also might be required to have an upper endoscopy with biopsies on a regular basis to see the progress of the food elimination diet or medication. The endoscopy provides pictures and tissue samples of your child's esophagus and helps the doctor determine how the diet or medication are working. The biopsies taken will not hurt your child as there are no nerve endings in the esophagus, but their throat might be sore form the camera being placed down. At Children's Memorial Hospital we strive to provide the best experience for your child, and our procedure suite is equipped with state-of-the art equipment and an experienced pediatric procedure team.