Joseph H. Butterfield, M.D.

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SUMMARY

As director of the Mayo Clinic Program for the Study of Mast Cell and Eosinophil Disorders, Joseph H. Butterfield, M.D., diagnoses and treats patients with mast cell disease and hypereosinophilic disorders. Dr. Butterfield uses blood and bone marrow samples from these patients to investigate the growth and development of these mast cell types.

Focus areas

• Hereditary alpha tryptasemia. This is the newest mast cell disorder. It is due to extra copies of the alpha tryptase gene. The disorder is inherited in a dominant fashion. One area of interest is why some patients with this disorder have little or no symptoms while others are significantly affected.
• Systemic mastocytosis. Dr. Butterfield is working to see how systemic mastocytosis and hereditary alpha tryptasemia relate to one another and whether one disorder leads to the other.
• Mast cell activation syndrome. Dr. Butterfield is using urinary levels of mast cell mediator metabolites to better diagnose and treat this disorder of episodic mast cell degranulation with systemic symptoms.
• Hypereosinophilic syndrome and other eosinophilic disorders. Healthcare professionals refer puzzling and difficult-to-diagnose cases to Dr. Butterfield. There are many aspects to these disorders that are unexplained, and the relationship between mast cells and eosinophils is an important area of investigation.

Significance to patient care

Patients with rare diseases require the best care from those who know how to treat these diseases. The latest clinical advances and step-by-step laboratory advances, such as those occurring at centers of excellence at Mayo Clinic and elsewhere, make this care better. Dr. Butterfield's goal is to make quality of life better for patients with rare disorders and extend their lives by using the latest research.