RESULTS
A total of 98 EoE patients aged ≥ 7 years old were screened. Twenty
patients were excluded from the study because of lost to follow-up,
unreachability, and neurodevelopmental disorder. Finally, seventy-eight
patients (74.4% male) with a median age of 13.5 years (IQR:8 years)
were included in the study. (Figure 1). Unpleasant and recurrent
symptoms that were distinct from dysphagia with certain foods were
described in 13 patients (76.9% male). (Figure 1). The median age at
the onset of symptoms of these 13 patients was 12.5 years (IQR: 7
years). All of them had concomitant allergic rhinitis (AR) (23.1%
perennial, 76.9% seasonal) and two patients had ongoing IgE-mediated
food allergy (patient 9: anaphylaxis with tree-nuts, patient 12:
anaphylaxis with fish).
The symptoms existed before and after the EoE diagnosis in 10 patients
(77%) and three patients (23%), respectively. Almost all patients
described oropharyngeal itching and tingling. The most common triggering
foods were kiwi and hazelnut, respectively. The median time from food
ingestion to symptom onset was five minutes (IQR: 4 minutes), and the
median duration of symptom relief was 30 minutes (IQR: 15 minutes)
(Table 1).
PFAS was diagnosed in 12 patients, and FIRE in one patient (Figure 1).
This patient (patient 10) was a 16-year-old girl who described narrowing
and pressure in the retrosternal area after consuming pickled but not
fresh cucumber on repeated exposures. She had not experienced a similar
complaint before the diagnosis of EoE. The triggering foods of PFAS were
different from the ones responsible for anaphylaxis in two patients
(patient 9 and patient 12).