Luca De Rico*, Mandy Malick and Marie-Pier Bachand
Objective: Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic disease that can cause complications when left untreated. However, the actual guidelines do not clearly specify which category of patients would benefit the most from maintenance treatment. The objective of this study was to determine the rate of relapse in our population and to identify the demographic and clinical characteristics of those patients, so that we can establish a long-term strategy to target them.
Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study that included all adult patients who had a diagnosis of EoE between 2010 and 2020 at the Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre.
Results: 283 patients were included. Our population consists primarily of male (75.6%), young (63.8% under 45 years old) and atopic patients (67.7%). 37.8% had food impaction and 22.5% had a stenosis at diagnosis. In our center, the percentage of significant relapse is 18.4%. Individuals with a higher risk of relapsing were those with poor adherence to treatment (61.5% vs 38.5%; p-value=0.0) and with a more severe presentation of their disease such as esophageal stenosis (29.0% vs 16.0%; p=0.021) or bolus impaction (29.9% vs 11.4%; p=0.0).
Conclusion: A relapse rate as high as 18.4% in our population would justify maintenance treatment in most patients. However, our results show that a more severe presentation of the disease leads to more recurrences, so initiating maintenance treatment in this group should be a priority. Improving adherence to EoE treatment should also be a goal to achieve with our interventions.
Published Date: 2024-02-27; Received Date: 2024-01-30
