PMID- 28676207 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20170907 LR - 20230928 IS - 1534-4436 (Electronic) IS - 1081-1206 (Print) IS - 1081-1206 (Linking) VI - 119 IP - 2 DP - 2017 Aug TI - Effects of allergen sensitization on response to therapy in children with eosinophilic esophagitis. PG - 177-183 LID - S1081-1206(17)30481-7 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.anai.2017.06.006 [doi] AB - BACKGROUND: In children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) foods are the most common disease triggers, but environmental allergens are also suspected culprits. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of environmental allergen sensitization on response to treatment in children with EoE in the southeastern United States. METHODS: Patients 2 to 18 years old who were referred to the Arkansas Children's Hospital Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders Clinic from January 2012 to January 2016 were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal cohort study with collection of demographics, clinical symptoms, medical history, allergy sensitization profiles, and response to treatment over time. Comparisons were made between complete responders (peak esophageal eosinophil count <15 per high-power field [HPF]) and nonresponders (>25 eosinophils per HPF) after treatment with diet elimination alone, swallowed corticosteroids alone, or diet elimination and swallowed corticosteroids. Sensitization patterns to environmental allergens found in the southeastern United States were analyzed for the effect on treatment response. RESULTS: A total of 223 individuals were enrolled. Of these, 182 had environmental allergy profiling and at least one endoscopy while receiving proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. Twenty-nine individuals had PPI-responsive EoE and were excluded from further analysis, leaving 123 individuals with non-PPI-responsive EoE who were further analyzed; 72 (58.5%) were complete responders and 33 (26.8%) were nonresponders. Seventeen individuals (13.8%) were partial responders (>/=1 but