Watermelon esophagus: a new visual paradigm

A 35-year-old male with no prior medical history presented for evaluation of multi-year history of dysphagia to both solids and liquids. He underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealing linear furrows with ring-like esophagus. Pathology of biopsies showed findings consistent with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). This is a newly recognized disease entity with a rapidly increasing prevalence that cannot be entirely accounted for by the increasing awareness in medicine. All patients with clinical suspicion of EoE should undergo esophageal biopsies regardless of endoscopic findings, as normal endoscopy can be seen in up to 17% of cases. Numerous non-specific endoscopic findings have been described, including trachealization, felinization, linear furrows, crepe paper mucosa, and longitudinal shearing. We present a unique and neverbefore seen image of EoE that accentuates the findings that may be seen endoscopically