Older patients with eosinophilic esophagitis have high treatment response to topical steroids

Background: There are few data assessing treatment response in older eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) patients and we evaluated treatment outcomes to topical corticosteroids (tCS) in this older population.Methods: This retrospective cohort study of the UNC EoE Clinicopathologic database included subjects with a new diagnosis of EoE treated with tCS. Histologic responses, global symptom response, and en-doscopic changes were recorded. Older EoE patients ( >65 years) were compared to younger EoE patients ( < 65). Results: We identified 467 EoE patients treated with tCS, 12 (3%) of whom were >65 years. Compared to those < 65 years, patients >65 had longer symptom duration and worse endoscopy scores, but most clinical features were similar. Post-treatment peak eosinophil counts trended higher in the < 65 group (25.0 vs 5.5; p = 0.07). Histological response was greater in the >65 population at < 15 eos/hpf (92% vs 57%; p = 0.02), <6 eos/hpf (83% vs 50%; p = 0.02), and < 1 eos/hpf (58% vs 29%; p = 0.03). Older age was independently associated with increased odds of histologic response (adjusted OR 8.48, 95% CI: 1.08-66.4).Conclusions: EoE patients >65 years had a higher likelihood of responding to tCS therapy, suggesting they should be studied more closely and included in future trials.(c) 2021 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the treatment response of patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), specifically focusing on the older population (≥65 years) receiving topical corticosteroids (tCS). The findings revealed that older EoE patients had a higher likelihood of responding to tCS therapy, suggesting the importance of studying this population more closely in future trials.