Diagnostic therapeutic care pathway for pediatric food allergies and intolerances in Italy: a joint position paper by the Italian Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (SIGENP) and the Italian Society for Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (SIAIP)

Table 4 Diagnostic criteria for Eosinophilic Disorders of the Gastrointestinal Tract

	Symptoms	Number of eosinophils per field^a
Eosinophilic esophagitis	Growth retardation, feeding difficulties, abdominal pain, non-specific symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, recurrent vomiting, dysphagia and esophageal food impaction.	≥15/HPF
Eosinophilic gastroenteritis	Mucosal form: abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, dyspepsia, diarrhea, malabsorption, protein-dispersing enteropathy with subsequent weight loss, anemia and hypoalbuminemia. Muscle form: reduced gastric motility, stiffening of the affected tract and possible intestinal obstruction. Serum form: irritation of the peritoneum with eosinophilic ascites, peritonitis and in the most severe cases intestinal perforation.	≥ 30/5 HPF at the gastric level ≥50/HPF at the duodenal level
Eosinophilic colitis	Abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, rectorrhagia, risk of acute complications such as volvulus and intussusception.	≥50/2 HPF or 100/HPF for cecum and ascending colon ≥42/2 HPF or 84/HPF for transverse colon and descending colon ≥32/2 HPF or 64/HPF for rectum and sigma

ISSN: 1824-7288