Steroids vs Dietary Therapy to Treat Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Conclusion

Medical and dietary therapy both are effective treatments for patients with EoE. While previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of topical corticosteroids, research over this past year has highlighted limitations of this approach. These studies have underscored the unmet need for additional therapeutic options with better drug delivery systems that are specific for EoE. They have also highlighted the need to better define therapeutic endpoints (i.e. symptomatic, histologic, or endoscopic response or a combination of all three). Research is underway to help answer these basic questions and to develop an important disease activity index specifically for EoE. Over the past year, several studies have also highlighted the effectiveness of dietary therapy in adults with EoE, and have demonstrated that this treatment approach should be considered as first-line therapy in adults, as it is in children. Knowing that both medical and dietary therapy is effective provides options for patients, and highlights the need to individualize treatment plans based on patient preferences.