Introduction: Eosinophilic oesophagitis is a recently recognized oesophageal disorder characterized by a combination of clinical and endoscopic features as well as the histological finding on oesophageal biopsy of greater than 15 eosinophils per high powered field. Recent reports suggest eosinophilic oesophagitis is increasing in incidence and this increase cannot be fully explained by increased recognition of the disorder. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the incidence of eosinophilic oesophagitis within the catchment area of a tertiary referral hospital in southwest Dublin, Ireland.
Methods: The histopathology database at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital was used to identify all oesophageal biopsies obtained between January 2000 and July 2008 reported to show evidence of oesophagitis. Biopsy samples with greater than 15 eosinophils per high powered field in at least two fields were highlighted as possible eosinophilic oesophagitis. The oesophageal biopsies of patients identified in this way were reviewed by a histopathologist with a special expertise in gastroenterology for features suggestive of eosinophilic oesophagitis.
Results: Twenty-five thousand three hundred and sixty-five upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed between January 2000 and July 2008. A total of 11 072 sets of oesophageal biopsies were taken and 1364 (12.3%) of these revealed evidence of oesophagitis. Only 13 (0.1%) patients had oesophageal biopsies showing greater than 15 eosinophils per high powered field. The median age of this patient group was 23 years (interquartile range 10.5-50.5 years), with 46% of patients under 18 years at the time of diagnosis. The male to female ratio was 5.5 : 1 compared with 1.1 : 1 in the oesophagitis group as a whole, (P=0.002). There was no significant association between endoscopic findings or presenting complaints and the average number of eosinophils per high powered field. The average number of biopsies taken in patients with endoscopic findings suggestive of eosinophilic oesophagitis was 3.75 compared with 1 in patients without those features, (P=0.01).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that eosinophilic oesophagitis is a rare disorder predominantly affecting young men.