by American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a disorder of the esophagus, is increasingly recognized as a major cause of swallowing difficulties in children and adults. It affects about one in 2,000 people and is part of a spectrum of allergic conditions.

A study presented at this year’s American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston investigated the probability of patients with certain atopic (allergic) conditions developing EoE.

“We did a separate analysis of four common allergic conditions—asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy—to determine the probability of pediatric patients ages 1-18 years with the conditions also developing EoE,” says pediatric resident, Catherine Haber, MD, lead author of the study and ACAAI member.

“For each of these atopic conditions, we compared the likelihood of developing EoE with a control group of patients who did not have these allergic or atopic conditions. We found that each of these conditions was associated with an increased risk of developing EoE. We also found that food allergy had the highest risk of developing EoE among the atopic conditions studied.”

The breakdown for each condition was as follows:

• Asthma—1,885 patients developed EoE versus 726 in the control group who did not
• Allergic rhinitis—1,444 patients developed EoE versus 829 in the control group who did not
• Atopic dermatitis—533 patients developed EoE versus 307 in the control group who did not
• Food allergies—1,098 patients developed EoE versus 166 in the control group who did not

The cohort and control groups were matched in terms of sex, race, and ethnicity. Additionally, they were matched for the other atopic conditions included in this study: asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy.