Kim Kardashian Hospitalized With Esophagitis, Echoing Her Father's Fatal Cancer Diagnosis

Kim Kardashian has revealed she was hospitalized after being diagnosed with esophagitis — inflammation of the esophagus — a disclosure that landed with particular force for her family given that her father, Robert Kardashian, died of esophageal cancer in 2003 at age 59, just two months after his own diagnosis.

The moment surfaces in the trailer for Season 8 of The Kardashians, released on September 17. In the footage, Kim — 45, wearing a hospital gown and no makeup — tells someone off-camera about her condition. A voice immediately responds: "Didn't your father… isn't it what he died of?" Kim is heard agreeing. The scene then cuts to her mother, Kris Jenner, visibly emotional in a confessional.

I can't; it makes me want to cry.— Kris Jenner

The trailer does not explain what led to Kim's hospital visit, how serious her condition is, or what treatment she received. Esophagitis and esophageal cancer are distinct diagnoses: one is inflammation, the other malignancy. Nothing in the trailer indicates Kim has cancer, according to ABP Live.

Esophagitis is inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. According to the Mayo Clinic, as cited by ABP Live, it can cause painful or difficult swallowing and chest pain; common causes include acid reflux, infection, medications, and allergies. Cleveland Clinic notes that chronic acid reflux — known as GERD — is the most common cause. On its own, esophagitis is not cancer, though Cleveland Clinic adds that chronic, untreated GERD can lead to Barrett's esophagus, a change in the esophagus lining's cells that is a risk factor for cancer, though the risk is described as low.

Robert Kardashian — attorney, businessman, and the family's late patriarch — was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003 and died on September 30 of that year at his home in Encino, Los Angeles, according to Wikipedia. He was 59. In the years since, the family has worked to raise awareness of the disease, including opening the UCLA Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health in 2019.

I have friends that I have referred to the Robert G. Kardashian Center, and it has saved their lives. It makes me proud to hear them be so grateful that they found a place that was dedicated to the one thing that would help them.— Kim Kardashian

This is not the first time Kim has shared a medical issue on camera. According to ABP Live, she previously disclosed finding what she described as a small brain aneurysm, which she attributed partly to stress, and cameras later captured her receiving medical clearance on the show.

Season 8 of The Kardashians premieres on October 8 on Hulu and Disney Plus. The trailer also teases storylines involving Kim's reported romance with Formula One driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, Khloé's love life, Kourtney's business and personal ventures, and separate spotlights on Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner, according to the Mirror.

Why it matters — The diagnosis draws a direct emotional line to the esophageal cancer that killed the Kardashian family patriarch 22 years ago, and raises the profile of a disease the family has spent years trying to bring public attention to through the UCLA center bearing Robert Kardashian's name.

Reported by instyle.com, people.com, hellomagazine.com, en.wikipedia.org, ew.com, news.abplive.com, mirror.co.uk