Authors Salima Haque Inform Diagnostics, Irving, TX, USA S. Maral K Mohammadi Department of Pathology, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA Anuradha Singhal Inform Diagnostics, Irving, TX, USA Amnon Sonnenberg Section of Gastroenterology, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR; 4) Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA Robert Maximilian Genta Inform Diagnostics, Irving, TX; Departments of Pathology and Medicine (Gastroenterology), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9482-4163 Massimo Rugge Department of Medicine DIMED. General Anatomic Pathology and Cytopathology Unit; University of Padova, Padova, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0679-0563 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15403/jgld-6048 Keywords: clinical epidemiology, dysphagia, eosinophilic esophagitis, lichenoid esophagitis, esophagitis Abstract

Background and Aims: Lichenoid esophagitis (LichE) is rarely encountered by gastrointestinal endoscopists. Using a large nationwide database of clinicopathological records, the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with LichE were compared to patients with lymphocytic esophagitis (LyE) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).

Methods: In a case-control study, cases with a diagnosis of LichE, LyE, or EoE were compared to a control population of all patients without these 3 conditions. In addition to histopathology, patients’ demographics, clinical presentation, and gastrointestinal comorbidities were considered. Statistical significance was assessed using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

Results: Among 967,773 unique patients with esophageal biopsies, LichE was found in 511 (0.05%), LyE in 1,786 (0.18%), EoE in 56,474 (5.84%), and none of these 3 diagnoses in a control population of 909,002 patients. LichE patients were significantly older, and EoE patients were significantly younger than the control population (p<0.0001). LichE and LyE significantly prevailed in females (OR=1.69; 95%CI: 1.40-2.04 and 1.34; 1.22-1.47, respectively). EoE was significantly less common in females (OR=0.49; 95%CI: 0.48-0.49). All 3 types of esophagitis were significantly less common among Hispanics, with their respective ORs of 0.70 (95%CI: 0.50-0.98), 0.83 (95%CI: 0.70-0.98), and 0.55 (95%CI: 0.53-0.57). EoE was also less common in persons of East and South Asian ancestry, with respective ORs of 0.52 (95%CI: 0.47-0.56) and 0.66 (95%CI: 0.56-0.76).

Conclusions: Increasing clinical awareness of LichE may enhance its clinico-pathological recognition, clarify its natural history, and ultimately lead to more effective clinical management.

How to Cite

1.

Haque S, Mohammadi SMK, Singhal A, Sonnenberg A, Genta RM, Rugge M. Lichenoid Esophagitis: A Clinicopathological Comparison with Lymphocytic and Eosinophilic Esophagitis. JGLD [Internet]. 2025 Jun. 28 [cited 2025 Jul. 6];34(2):157-62. Available from: https://www.jgld.ro/jgld/index.php/jgld/article/view/6048

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