EoE is diagnosed by taking a biopsy of the tissue in your esophagus and determining how many eosinophil cells are present per high powered field (hpf). A result of >15 cells per hpf will typically result in a diagnosis of EoE (if other conditions or sources of eosinophils are excluded like GERD).
About Biopsies
Numbers can vary significantly based on the location the biopsy tissue is taken from. For example, in studies the eosinophil count varied greatly from different tissue in different parts of the esophagus. If only one sample is taken, it could be from a part of the esophagus that is not significantly affected with the cells and results in an erroneous diagnosis. Biopsies are most reliable when taken from multiple parts of the esophagus to have a accurate result.
SO – what is your number and how does it compare?
Well, during a major study of people with EoE, the range of cells per hpf were from 15 to just over 100. The majority of them were in the middle around 40-50 eosinophils, with the most severe cases above 100 (max of 109). This study may be a good gauge of the general EoE population and the range of cell counts.
Hi, my eosinophil count is 13.90. what should i do?
Hi Joedel – so sorry this message didn’t get through when you posted it. Hope you’re doing better. Eos at 13.90 wouldn’t even meet the diagnosis threshold of EoE, so unless you’re dealing with related symptoms I would think you wouldn’t worry about it.
Hello -my eosinophil count from endoscopy shows greater than 75 per high power field. I do not know why it did not give me an exact count, but I already did the ppi for 2 months and budesinide as well. This was a repeat endoscopy for the first one which showed less than 75 eosinophils per high power field, why would it get worse instead of better?
The ppi and budesinide made my digestive system slow down and I get full fast when eating, and bloated and constipated. Besides a allergic reaction what else can cause this? J
Hi Chris, your eo count from a biopsy can vary greatly from one to the other. That’s because EOE is a patchy disease that can be bad in one part of the esophagus, but not as bad in another. So it depends on where and when they take the biopsies the results you experience. It doesn’t necessarily mean the disease is getting worse, as much as it means it’s still going. Not everyone responds to PPI’s or Corticosteroid treatment. So I would continue to work with your GI on the next steps in your plan if the first 2 treatments don’t seem to be helping much. Diet is a big one that should also be included to to try exclude triggers if you can identify foods that could be triggers. That’s why we call it the “needle-in-the-haystack disease”. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause.
Hello, we just got back results from my daughters scope and it shows in 3 of the 4 spots that biopsy’s taken her count was greater than 100. What to do now?