[Status of alternative medicine in Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis patents: a questionnaire survey].

Background: Patients with M. Crohn or colitis ulcerosa live with a chronic disease. Pharmaceuticals used in convention-al medicine have been proven to be effective but can have strong side-effects.

Eosinophilic esophagitis: red on microscopy, white on endoscopy.

Background/aims: The presenting symptom of eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic T(H)2-type inflammatory disease, is uniform dysphagia attacks. Histology reveals a dense mucosal infiltration with eosinophils. Unfortunately, endoscopic findings are often unremarkable or misleading.

Fragility of the esophageal mucosa: a pathognomonic endoscopic sign of primary eosinophilic esophagitis?

Background: Primary eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the esophagus, evokes recurrent dysphagia. Endoscopy is often unremarkable, and no consensus exists regarding management of resultant dysphagia. The response of a series of patients with primary eosinophilic esophagitis to dilation is reported together with a description of a possibly pathognomonic sign: fragile esophageal mucosa, for which the term "crêpe-paper" mucosa is introduced.