Infant Food Refusal: Is it Reflux or EoE (Eosinophilic Esophagitis)? with Antonella Cianferoni, MD, PhD

#414: It’s not uncommon for infants or toddlers to refuse food. Food refusal can be due to illness, tiredness, your baby’s temperament on that day…but, there is a disease that results in food refusal called Eosinophilic esophagitis or EOE.

EOE is a chronic, allergic inflammatory disease of the esophagus that causes damage that makes it difficult and uncomfortable for the baby or toddler to eat which in turn results in poor growth, chronic pain and/or difficulty swallowing.

The symptoms of EOE are sometimes confused with reflux and in this episode Dr. Antonella Cianferoni, MD, PhD explains what EOE is…why it sometimes gets confused with REFLUX, how it’s treated as an allergic disease….and I think you’ll be surprised because the treatment and certainly the diagnosis is quite different than the other allergic diseases we’ve covered here on the podcast.

CHOP’s Center for Eosinophilic Disorders: https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/center-pediatric-eosinophilic-disorders 

American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (APFED): https://apfed.org/about-ead/egids/eoe/

Shownotes for this episode are here: https://blwpodcast.com/414