EoE is a chronic disorder of the esophagus that is caused by the immune system. It affects both adults and children, with 0.5 to 1 in 1000 people having it.

Chronic inflammation encourages esophageal scarring, the growth of esophageal rings, and stricture, all of which can obstruct the passage of solid food and result in impaction if left untreated (when food is stuck in the esophagus and cannot dislodge).

A groundbreaking study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has now established the threshold for a new measurement of early scarring in children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), allowing immediate intervention during endoscopy to stop further damage and prevent food from becoming stuck in the esophagus (feeding tube) of children with this condition.

Findings were supported by the Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic Diseases (CURED) Foundation and published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

EoE is a chronic disorder of the esophagus that is caused by the immune system. It affects both adults and children, with 0.5 to 1 in 1000 people having it. Chronic inflammation encourages esophageal scarring, the growth of esophageal rings, and stricture, all of which can obstruct the passage of solid food and result in impaction if left untreated (when food is stuck in the esophagus and cannot dislodge).

The study employed the Endoscopic Functional Luminal Impedance Probe (EndoFLIP) to calculate the “distensibility index,” which is a functional assessment of how much effort is necessary to stretch open the esophagus. Until recently, endoscopy could only visually assess the amount of scar tissue in the esophagus, making it difficult to spot the early changes and take action before the damage gets worse.

Senior author Joshua Wechsler, MD, MSCI, Medical Director of the Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Diseases Program at Lurie Children’s, CURED Research Scholar at Lurie Children’s, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said, “This is a gamechanger in how we care for kids with EoE.” 

“Now, if distensibility is low, we can,” added the senior author, “dilate the esophagus during the same procedure, and because we can pinpoint exactly where the scarring is, our intervention is more targeted and takes much less time. We are seeing improvements in symptoms, which is incredibly exciting.”

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