Fungal esophagitis in children.

Seven patients were endoscopically diagnosed as having a fungal esophagitis with mycologic or histologic support for the diagnosis from 1979 to 1991 in the Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital. The major causative agent was Candida albicans. Other fungi isolated were Candida Krusei, Trichosporon cutaneum, Trichosporon beigelii, and Rhodotorula rubra, but they all resembled one another under endoscopic examination. The most common presenting symptom was hematemesis, and the lower part of the esophagus was more often involved. Only one patient was documented to have oral thrush. Most of the children did not present typical symptoms of esophagitis such as dysphagia or odynophagia, and they tended to be in more advanced stages of the disease when the diagnosis was made.