Familial Dysphagia and Eosinophilia

Background: Recent reports suggest a familial predisposition to eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) and a link between Schatzki's rings and EE.

Objective: Our objective is to present our experience with 7 families with dysphagia and eosinophilia.

Design: Case series.

Setting: One-thousand-bed community-based teaching hospital.

Patients: Seventeen patients from 7 families with dysphagia and eosinophilia.

Methods: Direct clinical and endoscopic examination with review of radiologic and pathologic data.

Results: 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.

Limitations: This was a case series.

Conclusion: We propose a familial dysphagia syndrome characterized by eosinophilia in the form of EE, EG, or PE and Schatzki's rings in older generations.