Reveal the unspoken
signs of EoE
EoE symptoms, such as dysphagia and food impaction, may produce a certain amount of fear.13 Because some patients unknowingly develop adaptive behaviors to cope with EoE, they may be unaware of their symptoms.1,3,12,33,35,36 Diagnostic delays may increase the risk of fibrostenotic complications, and the mean diagnostic delay is up to 3.5 years in children and 8 years in adults based on a systematic review.14,16,30
Use these questions to help uncover key symptoms in adults and pediatric patients.
Does your adult patient:
Does your pediatric patient*:
- feel like food is getting stuck when swallowing?
- feel afraid of not being able to swallow?
- ever feel anxiety related to swallowing?
- take longer to eat than others?
- need to cut food into small pieces?
- need to drink a lot with meals?
- need to chew excessively when eating?
- avoid certain foods, like chicken, steak, rice, or crusty bread?
- avoid social settings that involve food?
- substitute solids with blended or pureed food?
- need reminders to chew more?
- show preference for liquids over solid foods?
- eat slowly compared to others?
- act as a picky eater?
- have problems with the consistency of certain foods, like meat or bread?
- hold food in his or her mouth for prolonged periods and/or spits food out?
- graze on small volumes of liquid or food?
- often leave and come back to the table?
- have difficulty advancing diet from pureed baby food?
Does your pediatric patient*:
- need reminders to chew more?
- show preference for liquids over solid foods?
- eat slowly compared to others?
- act as a picky eater?
- have problems with the consistency of certain foods, like meat or bread?
- hold food in his or her mouth for prolonged periods and/or spits food out?
- graze on small volumes of liquid or food?
- often leave and come back to the table?
- have difficulty advancing diet from pureed baby food?
If so, your patient may be suffering from symptoms of EoE. Consider
an endoscopy with biopsies to help assess esophageal inflammation
and confirm suspicions of EoE.1,3
