Eosinophilic esophagitis: What can we learn from Crohn's disease?

Abstract

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an emerging esophageal inflammatory disorder affecting children and young adults. As a relatively new disease, EoE is still burdened by frequent diagnostic and therapeutic pitfalls in clinical practice. This manuscript posits a number of similarities with Crohn's disease, which may help optimize EoE patient management. Commonalities include epidemiologic trends (Westernized diseases, rising incidence, early-life risk factors), diagnostic considerations (symptoms are poor predictors of disease activity, difficulties in disease activity assessment) and therapeutic issues (similar natural history and therapeutic goals, induction and maintenance phases, combination of drug and endoscopic treatment, potential drug interchangeability, long-term unsolved issues). Physicians devoted to EoE should learn from the extraordinary achievements fulfilled in Crohn's disease: increased disease awareness, multidisciplinary specialized clinics, structured childhood and transition programs, and an ongoing roadmap for personalized treatments, including genetic susceptibility, risk factors for progression, genotype-phenotype correlation, drug monitoring and microbial data.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; Eosinophilic esophagitis; inflammatory bowel disease.