Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE)
What is Eosinophilic Esophagitis?
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE) is an inflammatory disease of the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. With EE, there are a large number of white blood cells called eosinophils in the esophagus.
What causes EE?
EE is caused by food allergies, and possibly airborne allergens.
What are the symptoms for EE?
Symptoms typically resemble reflux disease but do not get better with anti-reflux medications. They may include:
- Trouble swallowing
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Food getting stuck in the esophagus
Young children may also have slow or poor growth.
How is EE diagnosed?
Your child’s doctor may do some tests to find out if there are eosinophils in the esophagus. These tests include:
- endoscopy (using an instrument called an endoscope to look inside the esophagus)
- biopsy (a sample of tissue from the esophagus is removed and tested)
How is EE treated?
The following treatments are available for children with EE:
- Change in Diet
- Restricted Diet
- Allergy testing helps to identify foods that cause an allergic reaction
- Those foods are removed from the diet
- Elemental Diet
- If allergic to multiple foods, diet may be limited to a formula with only amino acids and no allergens
- A dietician will help make sure your child is getting the proper nutrition
- Prescription medications
- Medication to take by mouth may be ordered by the doctor.
- Investigational Medications
- These medications help reduce the number of eosinophils in the esophagus.
- Clinical studies / trials to study how these medications can help children with EE are on going at our hospital
Rev. 3/09
