Analysis of clinical manifestations of eosinophilic esophagitis and atopy

Eosinophilic esophagitis is a clinical disorder of the esophagus with primary pathological signs and symptoms of esophagitis, confirmed by biopsy of the mucosa to have an eosinophilic infiltrate in absence of gastro esophageal reflux disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical manifestations of eosinophilic esophagitis, associated withatopy in patients treated atthe- Gastroenterology Center of Florianopolis. We conducted a case-control study, analyzed 72 patients diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (Case group) and 72 patients obtained by random selection (Control group). Data was collectedfrom medical records and analyzed then describedin the format of measures of central tendency for quantitative variables and proportions for qualitative variables. The chi-square (χ2) or Fisher’sexacttestwas used to test the homogeneity of the sample proportions. The Ethics Committee of the University of the South of Santa Catarina under Opinion No 10.818.4.01.III approved the project. Men were 6.5 times more affectedand ages rangedfrom 13 to 84 years (mean age 32 years and median 38). Atopywas statistically significant and more frequent (16times) when associated withe osinophilic esophagitis,
asthmabeingthe most common manifestation followed by rhinitis.Inthe clinical condition, the symptoms found were dysphagia (81.9%), regurgitation (16.7%) and heartburn (16.7%). In conclusion this study showed that the male was the most frequently associated with atopy in 48.6% of cases and dysphagia was the most common symptom found, both with statistical significance.