Clinical characteristics of 17 cases of eosinophilic gastroenteritis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG) is a rare disease characterized by prominent eosinophilic infiltration that may involve a variable depth of one or more gastrointestinal organs. We analyzed the largest number of patients with EG among the studies carried out at a single center in Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, laboratory, endoscopic, and radiologic features, management, and clinical outcome in 17 patients who were diagnosed as EG from January 1994 to February 2008. RESULTS: Median age was 36 (2-67 years). Two of the 17 patients had a history of allergy. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain and diarrhea. Fifteen patients (88.2%) had hypereosinophilia. The ESR was moderately raised in 6 out of 14 patients. Eleven patients (64.7%) had predominant involvement of the mucosa, 1 (5.9%) of muscularis, and 5 (29.4%) of subserosa. EGD revealed non-specific findings such as erythema and edema. Abdominal Computed tomography revealed gastrointestinal wall thickenings of the involved organ, and all of 5 cases of the subserosal type had ascites. Thirteen patients (76.5%) were improved by corticosteroid treatment. Among five patients who had been followed for more than one year (12-84 months), two experienced relapse after discontinuing corticosteroids. CONCLUSIONS: EG should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms even in the absence of peripheral eosinophilia and in non-specific endoscopic findings.