Review Article
Lymphocytic Esophagitis: A Newly Recognized Mimic of Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Vipul R Nayi1 and David A. Johnson2*
1Montefiore Medical Center Bronx NY, USA
2Professor of Medicine/Chief of Gastroenterology, Eastern VA Medical School, Norfolk VA, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- David A. Johnson
Professor of Medicine/Chief of Gastroenterology
Eastern VA Medical School, Norfolk VA, USA
Tel: 7576416685
Fax: 7574405713
E-mail: dajevms@aol.com
Received date: November 4, 2015 Accepted date: November 27, 2015 Published date: December 04, 2015
Citation:Nayi VR, Johnson DA (2015) Lymphocytic Esophagitis: A Newly Recognized Mimic of Eosinophilic Esophagitis. J Gastrointest Dig Syst 5:357. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000357
Copyright: © 2015 Nayi VR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Lymphocytic Esophagitis (LyE) is a type of chronic esophagitis defined by three histologic characteristics: 1) dense peripapillary lymphocytic infiltrates in the esophageal squamous mucosa (termed Peripapillary Lymphocytosis), 2) little to no i ntraepithelial granulocytes within these areas of focus and 3) the presence of spongiosis, or intercellular edema, of the squamous epithelial cells specifically in the areas of focus. This condition has a higher predominance in white females. Patients typically present with symptoms of dysphagia, chest/ abdominal pain and heartburn. Common endoscopic features of LyE include esophagitis, strictures and stenosis, but there is a large portion of patients with a normal appearing esophagus. One technique that shows promise in increasing detection and decreasing sampling error is narrow-band imaging magnifying endoscopy (NBI-ME). Currently, there is no research guiding treatment for LyE, but proton pump inhibitors and swallowed corticosteroids have been used in the past.
