Prevalence of elderly eosinophilic esophagitis and their clinical characteristics

Background and aims: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is predominantly found in middle-aged men among adults. There are few reports about EoE in the elderly, despite an ageing population. The study aimed to define the prevalence and clinical characteristics of EoE amongst older adults.

Methods: Elderly patients (defined as those ≥65 years) were compared to younger adults (18-64) in terms of clinical characteristics (age, gender, presenting symptoms, comorbidities), histological activity (eosinophil count), treatment modality and response to treatment. A pre- existing prospectively generated database of all EoE patients presenting to our department between February 2010 and December 2022 was interrogated. 309 patients who underwent endoscopy and esophageal biopsy and were found to have ≥15 eosinophils/HPF were defined as having EoE and were included for study. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's extract test or Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: 309 cases of EoE were recorded, mean age 45.7, range (21-88 years), of which20 patients were aged 65 years and over. Compared to younger patients, those aged ≥65 had more medical comorbidities (15 [75%] vs 111[38%], p = 0.002), and instead a non-significant trend toward less fibrosis (0.25 vs 0.46, p = 0.117). Although rate of cases required topical steroid (TCS) therapy was similar, none received repeated or maintenance TCS therapy in elderly.

Conclusion: In our cohort, only 20 patients (6%) were aged 65 years or older, suggesting that EoE is uncommon in the elderly. The clinical characteristics of EoE in the older age group were similar to the younger patients. Future studies with prospective data collection may determine if EoE disappears with age, or if the younger mean age is reflective of an increasing prevalence in recent years, that may be realized in the elderly EoE population in the future.