Eosinophilic esophagitis and allergies in the pediatric population of Puerto Rico

Abstract

Several studies have been done trying to describe the clinical manifestation, histopathological appearance, and natural history of eosinophilic esophagitis, but no studies have been done in the pediatric population of Puerto Rico. Our objective is to describe the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and the atopic characteristics of pediatric patients diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis. We conducted a cross sectional study in which the 24 medical records of the patients with eosinophilic esophagitis were revised and the following data was collected: age, sex, hometown and presenting symptoms. In a 24 pediatric patients with EE, the female sex was prevalent with a 54.2% and the median age was seven years old. The most common presenting symptom was epigastric pain. Allergies to environmental allergens were more prevalent in pediatric patients with EE. In conclusion, our sample proves that EE is indeed present among the pediatric population in Puerto Rico.