Familial dysphagia and eosinophilia

Abstract

Recent reports suggest a familial predisposition to eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) and a link between Schatzki's rings and EE. Our objective is to present our experience with 7 families with dysphagia and eosinophilia. Case series. One-thousand-bed community-based teaching hospital. Seventeen patients from 7 families with dysphagia and eosinophilia. Direct clinical and endoscopic examination with review of radiologic and pathologic data. Twelve patients had EE alone, one had eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG) alone, one had EE and EG, and 3 geriatric patients had Schatzki's rings (one with EG and peripheral eosinophilia [PE] and one with PE). EE spanned 2 generations in 4 families and involved 2 brothers in one family. This was a case series. We propose a familial dysphagia syndrome characterized by eosinophilia in the form of EE, EG, or PE and Schatzki's rings in older generations.