Novel and rare forms of oesophagitis

Abstract

Our understanding of inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including those of the oesophagus, has expanded in recent years. Once attributed almost exclusively to gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease or infection, it is now recognised that oesophagitis may occur due to a variety of distinct disease entities. Many of these conditions cause debilitating and persistent symptoms, impacting upon quality of life and necessitating ongoing surveillance and treatment. This review will consider the clinical, endoscopic and histopathological features of these novel and rare forms of oesophagitis.

Esophageal lichen planus: Current knowledge, challenges and future perspectives

“…Diagnosis: Similar set of macroscopic and histologic features of ELP has been repeatedly described in literature (see Table 2 ). Alongside some findings which can be considered typical of ELP, some similarities with other esophageal disorders such as eosinophilic esophagitis, lymphocytic esophagitis, and sloughing esophagitis can be found[ 3 , 9 - 11 , 13 , 78 - 82 ], hence, making the diagnosis challenging. Based on published data and experience from our cohort of patients, a diagnostic score combining endoscopic and histopathologic findings, as well as direct immunofluorescence (DIF), and a severity grading (no ELP, mild ELP, and severe ELP) has been previously proposed by our group[ 20 ].…”

“…Inflammatory esophageal diseases comprise a broad spectrum of differential diagnoses [ 1 - 3 ]out of which reflux esophagitis is the most frequent condition[ 4 ]. Infectious etiologies include Candida or viral esophagitis which are mainly linked to compromised immune function[ 5 ].…”

“…The spectrum of differential diagnoses ranges to less defined subtypes such as lymphocytic[ 13 ] or sloughing esophagitis[ 14 ]. These differential diagnoses as summed up in Table 1 encompass additional manifestation of autoimmune bullous diseases such as mucous membrane pemphigoid or pemphigus vulgaris[ 2 , 3 , 15 ] as well as lichen planus (LP). Esophageal lichen planus (ELP), a mucocutanous manifestation of LP, should be considered in patients with signs and symptoms corresponding to esophageal inflammation.…”