03/11/2025
It is fascinating to see how the management of Eosinophilic oesophagitis, a gastrointestinal allergic condition that has become more prevalent over the last few years, continues to evolve. Eosinophils, a type of cell commonly found in other allergic conditions, including: Asthma, Eczema and Hayfever, find their way into the oesophagus or foodpipe. They don't usually live there. When they do get in, they can cause a variety of symptoms and often negatively impact an affected individual's ability to swallow food.
Getting the diagnosis right is a crucial first step and needs paediatric endoscopy and the right biopsies collected from the foodpipe.
Diet, drugs and rarely dilatation (stretch) of the oesophagus play key roles in treating the eosinophilic inflammation of the food pipe or dealing with any structural changes that may have occurred.
Dietary approaches can be very effective, and the expertise of a highly qualified paediatric dietitian is essential.
A better understanding of how the condition develops, the cells and biological signalling pathways involved, means that more targets for treatment are available than a few years ago. Newer medications look very promising.
As always, it is so important to work with each family and child or young person, to personalise the approach taken to the unique individual and their circumstances
EoE can be a challenging disorder for patients and their providers. Jenifer R. Lightdale, MD, MPH, offered some “clinical pearls” for managing this ...
