My 14 year old daughter has been diagnosed
with eosinophilic esophagitis. It is an
allergic type reaction that causes
increased white blood cells, which can
occur throughout the digestive tract. It
is a rare disease (1 in 10,000) that is
increasingly being diagnosed in children.
It can result in difficulties swallowing,
abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
Diagnosis is not always clear cut but it
is done through multiple biopsies, where
they then count the number of eosinophils
per high power field. It is best done by
an doctor who has experience with the
eosinophilic gastric diseases, because it
is easy to miss it.
For more information, see the following
websites. Cincinnati Children's (Dr.
Putnam) and CHOP (Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia) are the leading hospitals
for treatment.
www.curedfoundation.org/
http://www.apfed.org/news.htm
Has your son been tested for celiac
disease? My daughter was also diagnosed
with celiac disease, this summer. This
disease can also be hard to diagnose.
Diagnosis is done through a celiac panel
of blood tests, that is usually followed
up with an endoscopy and biopsies, looking
for villi damage. It is important that
gluten continues to be eaten until after
the blood test and biopsy, otherwise the
test may be negative due to the diet.
Good luck figuring this out. My daughter
has had severe stomach pain since late
last winter. Even with treatment for the
EE and celiac disease, she is still in
pain. We are seeing a new GI doctor this
week, so hopefully we will get some good
advice and a something that will actually
help her.
