Low Prevalence of Extraesophageal Gastrointestinal Pathology in Patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Background: Limited data are available to support current guidelines recommendations on obtaining gastric and duodenal biopsies of patients with clinical and histologic manifestations consistent with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) to rule out eosinophilic gastritis (EG) or duodenitis (EoD). Our study examined the prevalence of concomitant extraesophageal, gastrointestinal pathology to better characterize the diagnostic yield of additional biopsies.

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective study which utilized ICD 9 codes (530.13) and search queries of pathology reports ("Eosinophilic esophagitis," "EoE") to identify EoE patients. Patient endoscopy reports, pathology reports, and office notes were manually reviewed to characterize cases.

Results: The electronic health record search yielded 1,688 EoE adults. In those who had extra-esophageal biopsies obtained, EG was identified in 34 (3.4%), H. pylori in 45 (4.6%), EoD in 27 (3.3%), and histology consistent with celiac disease in 20 (2.5%). Endoscopic abnormalities were found in the stomach of 92% of patients with EoE and EG and in the duodenum of 50% of patients with EoE and EoD. Symptoms of dyspepsia and/or abdominal pain occurred in a significantly greater proportion of patients with extraesophageal disease (64% vs. 19% in EoE group, p < 0.001). Overall, extraesophageal pathology would have been missed in 1.4% of patients lacking either symptoms or endoscopic signs suggestive of extraesophageal disease.

Conclusions: The yield of gastric and duodenal biopsies in adults with EoE is low, with 6.5% of patients demonstrating histologic features of celiac disease, Helicobacter pylori, EG, and/or EoD. Biopsies of extraesophageal, gastrointestinal sites in patients with suspected or previously diagnosed EoE should consider symptom and endoscopy manifestations as well as the potential impact of histopathologic findings on clinical management.