A retrospective cohort study on oesophageal food bolus obstruction in the North Denmark region in 2021-two thirds were never diagnosed with a cause.

BACKGROUND: Food bolus obstruction (FBO) leading to hospital treatment is often associated with eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE), stenosis, or oesophageal cancer (1). Danish national guidelines recommend that patients with FBO undergo a diagnostic upper endoscopy within two weeks of presentation to exclude possible malignancy, and histological evaluation of eight biopsies (2, 3). AIMS: The aims of this study were to (1) report the incidence and describe the causes and treatment of FBO in the North Denmark Region (NDR), (2) determine the proportion of patients who underwent upper endoscopy and biopsy according to regional and national guidelines, and (3) identify International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) diagnosis and procedure codes applied to the hospital visits due to FBO in the NDR. METHODS: Among all acute hospital visits in the NDR in 2021, all visits with ICD-10 codes possibly reflecting FBO, as well as a random sample of 14,400 visits with unspecific ICD-10 codes (R and Z codes), were screened manually for possible FBO. Diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment of all patients with FBO were recorded. RESULTS: The median patient age was 66.0 (Q1-Q3: 49.8-81.0) years, and half of the patients had experienced FBO before. Two thirds of patients (66.0%) were never diagnosed with a cause of FBO, followed by 17.3% with EoE. 30% of patients did not undergo upper endoscopy within two weeks of the hospital visit, and 50.7% were never biopsied in the oesophagus. Of 1886 hospital visits with registry ICD-10 codes that possibly reflected FBO, 8.4% were due to FBO, while FBO was present in 0.028% of the random sample of unspecific ICD-10 codes. CONCLUSIONS: Most hospitalized FBO patients in the NDR in 2021 were never diagnosed with a cause. In these patients there is a high risk of overlooked EoE or upper gastrointestinal cancers. The area needs immediate focus and changed routines to improve treatment and prevent new FBO.

The incidence of eosinophilic oesophagitis in 2007-2017 among children in North Denmark Region is lower than expected.

BACKGROUND: In North Denmark Region (NDR), the incidence of Eosinophilic Oesophagitis (EoE) among adults has increased following a new biopsy protocol in 2011, whereas data on the incidence of EoE among children is lacking. AIMS: To describe the incidence of EoE in children aged 0-17 in NDR as well as diagnostic delay, clinical manifestations, treatment and complications. METHODS: This retrospective, register-based DanEoE cohort study included 18 children diagnosed with EoE between 2007-2017 in NDR. Medical files were reviewed with attention to symptoms, reason for referral, disease progress, treatment, symptomatic and histological remission as well as diagnostic delay. RESULTS: The median incidence per year (2007-2017) was 0.86/100,000 children in NDR aged 0-17 years. The median diagnostic delay among children was four years and six months. Sixty percent presented with food impaction at first hospital visit. After initial treatment, only one of 18 children achieved symptomatic and histologic remission and had a long-term treatment plan. CONCLUSIONS: The calculated incidence among children was lower compared to similar studies. Combined with poor remission rates and lack of follow-up, it is likely that EoE is an underdiagnosed and insufficiently treated disease among children in NDR. Our findings suggest that more knowledge concerning EoE in children could lead to a higher incidence, shorter diagnostic delay and more effective treatment.

Patients with eosinophilic oesophagitis in Denmark have higher use of psychotropic drugs: A Danish nationwide study of psychotropic drug use in 3367 patients and 16,835 matched comparators.

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, immune-mediated disease of the oesophagus. Eosinophilic oesophagitis is associated with a substantial disease burden affecting the quality of life and affecting mental health. There are limited data describing the incidence of psychiatric disorders and the use of psychotropic drugs (PDs) in EoE patients. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to investigate whether EoE patients in Denmark have higher use of PDs, contacts with the department of psychiatry, and attempts of suicide or intentional self-harm compared with the general population after being diagnosed with EoE. METHODS: This study was a nationwide, population-based register study including 3367 EoE patients and 16,835 age- and sex-matched comparators. A register-based EoE definition was used to identify cases. Incident PD use was extracted from the prescription register and information regarding psychiatric contacts was retrieved from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register. RESULTS: The 5-year incidence of PD use in EoE patients was 13.8% compared to 7.1% of the matched comparators (Hazard ratio 1.83; confidence interval 1.6-2.0; p ≤ 0.001). Antidepressants were the most frequently prescribed PD, whereas antipsychotics were the least prescribed PD. Increasing age, lower educational level, and comorbidity (Charlson Comorbidity Index score ≥1) were associated with the prescription of PDs. The risk of PD use was lower in men than in women with EoE. CONCLUSION: Treatment with PDs were more common in EoE patients after they were diagnosed than in the general Danish population, indicating that EoE patients have an increased risk of psychiatric disorders.

The phenotype of adults with complicated eosinophilic esophagitis is dominated by a 5-year longer diagnostic delay: A population-based study of the DanEoE cohort.

Background and Aim: The DanEoE is a previously described population- and register-based cohort of 236 adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in a well-defined Danish region with a population of 580 000 and free medical treatment. The aim of the study was to compare the phenotype and treatment response between EoE patients with complications to patients without complications at diagnosis. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of the DanEoE cohort's 236 adult EoE patients diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 in the North Denmark Region. Patients were divided into a group who had had complications (dilated or food bolus obstruction [FBO]) before or at the diagnosis, and a group without. Results: At the diagnostic endoscopy, 61% had never had a complication, and 39% had either had FBO (n = 77) or been dilated (n = 15). The complicated group had the same mean age at symptom debut (37 [SD = 16] vs 37 [SD = 17] years, P = 1.0), but were diagnosed significantly later with a resulting longer diagnostic delay (13 [SD = 13] vs 7.9 [SD = 11] years, P = 0.01). Almost half of all patients were never treated to symptomatic remission (uncomplicated 40%, complicated 49%). The histological remission was not secured in the majority (uncomplicated 68%, complicated 70%). Despite this, <15% of patients with previous FBO experienced this after the diagnosis. Conclusion: In the population-based DanEoE cohort, results indicated that the complicated EoE phenotype was a patient with a 5-year longer diagnostic delay. In the current study, the complication status did not predict the treatment response.