Escalating incidence of eosinophilic esophagitis: A 20-year prospective, population-based study in Olten County, Switzerland

Two gastroenterologists (A. S. and P. H.) and 1 pathology center serve this area. Since 1989, adult and pediatric patients with EoE from Olten County were consecutively entered into the Swiss EoE database (SEED) if they fulfilled the following criteria: (1) proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-refractory esophagus-attributed symptoms (high-dose PPI trial of >4 weeks or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) exclusion by pH-metry before the EoE diagnosis), (2) eosinophilic esophageal peak infiltration of 24 or more eosinophils per hpf, and (3) exclusion of other diseases associated with esophageal eosinophilia. [...]EoE diagnosis was based on both clinical and histopathologic features and biopsy specimens were processed and examined in a single pathology center by pathologists with an extensive experience in examining EoE biopsies.