← Issue №9/ week of Aug 30, 2026/Esophagus/Reflux

Treatment Patterns in Patients With Eosinophilic Oesophagitis Referred for Expert Consultation.

From GI Signals issue №9: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Esophagus/Reflux prospective cohort · n=52 · Aug 27, 2026 · Aliment Pharm Ther · IF 6.7

Treatment Patterns in Patients With Eosinophilic Oesophagitis Referred for Expert Consultation.

New evidenceeosinophilic esophagitishealth services
Clinical takeawayBefore referring EoE patients as refractory, ensure optimal dosing and administration of PPIs, topical steroids, and elimination diets as per guideline recommendations, and assess adherence. Consider dupilumab in eligible patients. Re-evaluate for functional/behavioral contributors (e.g., esophageal hypersensitivity, ARFID) if refractory symptoms persist.
What it foundExperts estimated true refractoriness to medical therapy at 15% (IQR 10-25) and to diet therapy at 31% (IQR 20-50); most referred patients had suboptimal prior treatment compared to guideline-recommended therapies (PPIs 80%, topical steroids 55%, elimination diets 45%, dupilumab 10%).
ContextChallenges current referral patterns by showing most 'refractory' EoE cases in adults are due to suboptimal treatment or adherence, not true refractoriness. Confirms guideline-recommended therapies are underutilized prior to referral.
Measured against the standard of care· ACG 2025 (Dellon et al., Am J Gastroenterol 120(1):31-59) / ASGE 2026 consensus Part 2 (Dellon et al., Gastrointest Endosc 103(3):396-417)

Decision at stakethe choice among initial anti-inflammatory therapies for EoE should be individualized within a shared decision-making framework

… Choose a single initial therapy by shared decision-making. …

From our summary of this standard, unedited — the part the paper bears on. … marks omitted text. Our wording, not the guideline's; read the source for its own text. The rest of this standard includes DIAGNOSIS, DILATION, MAINTENANCE and 2 more.

Our full summary of this standard

ACG 2025 (GRADE) is still the governing guideline. The ASGE 2026 consensus Part 2 (modified Delphi, 28 statements at ≥80% agreement; not GRADE) adds endoscopic and pediatric detail without contradicting it. DIAGNOSIS: symptoms of esophageal dysfunction plus ≥15 eos/hpf after excluding other causes of esophageal eosinophilia. A PPI trial is not a diagnostic criterion (PPI-REE abandoned). Do the initial diagnostic EGD off PPI, topical steroid and dietary therapy (ACG key concept; ASGE consensus, which gives no washout duration). Initial assessment is a standard EGD, not a less-invasive modality, so that full biopsies and dilation are possible (ASGE). Take ≥6 esophageal biopsies from ≥2 levels in anyone with symptoms or endoscopic findings consistent with EoE, targeting visible lesions. In CHILDREN with suspected EoE, also biopsy the stomach and duodenum (ASGE). Use EREFS at every endoscopy and report a quantified peak eosinophil count (ACG strong/low; ASGE). TREATMENT (ACG): swallowed topical steroids STRONG/moderate; high-dose PPI CONDITIONAL/low; empiric elimination diet CONDITIONAL/low. Choose a single initial therapy by shared decision-making. Fluticasone or budesonide are both reasonable. Adult doses: PPI double the reflux dose (e.g., omeprazole 20 mg BID or 40 mg daily); budesonide 2-4 mg/day (BOS 2 mg BID); fluticasone 1,760 mcg/day divided. Pediatric doses: PPI 2 mg/kg/day; budesonide 1-2 mg/day; fluticasone 110-880 mcg/day. Allergy testing is not used to direct diets. A 1FED/2FED step-up diet with a dietitian is acceptable, with endoscopic and biopsy confirmation after each reintroduced food. Dupilumab is CONDITIONAL for PPI-nonresponsive patients aged ≥12 (moderate) and for ages 1-11 at ≥15 kg (low). Weight-band dosing: 15-<30 kg 200 mg q2w; 30-<40 kg 300 mg q2w; ≥40 kg 300 mg weekly. Recommendations AGAINST: omalizumab, cromolyn, montelukast. No recommendation for cendakimab, benralizumab, lirentelimab, mepolizumab or reslizumab. DILATION: an adjunct to anti-inflammatory therapy for strictures causing dysphagia (ACG conditional/low). Start low and go slow; target ≥16 mm in adults and adolescents over ≥1 session. In children, ASGE supports dilation of symptomatic strictures or a narrow-caliber esophagus regardless of disease activity, using the same start-low/go-slow approach. MAINTENANCE: continue effective therapy (ACG STRONG despite low evidence) at the lowest effective dose. MONITORING: judge response on symptoms, endoscopy and histology together, never symptoms alone. Assess response endoscopically at 8-12 weeks after starting a PPI or topical steroid. For diet, ACG says 8-12 weeks and ASGE says 6-8 weeks. For dupilumab or biologics, assess at 12-24 weeks (ASGE: up to 24 weeks). Allow appropriate washout or timing after any treatment change before the follow-up EGD (ASGE). Take monitoring biopsies from the most severe-appearing lesions (rings, furrows, exudates) (ASGE). Monitoring biopsies may be limited to the esophagus when prior gastric and duodenal biopsies were normal and nothing new suggests other pathology (ASGE). The histologic response threshold of <15 eos/hpf is a 'may consider' target, read alongside endoscopic and symptom findings. Shorten follow-up after complications. Care gaps of ≥2 years are associated with fibrostenosis. PEDIATRIC (ACG): esophagram for children with dysphagia to assess fibrostenotic disease; feeding therapy and dietitian for feeding dysfunction; growth, development and nutrition are treatment goals.

ACG 2025 (Dellon et al., Am J Gastroenterol 120(1):31-59) / ASGE 2026 consensus Part 2 (Dellon et al., Gastrointest Endosc 103(3):396-417) · reviewed 2026-10-11 ↗
Pomenti SF … Katzka DA · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · IF 6.7 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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