title: Recent advances in the pathophysiology and management of eosinophilic oesophagitis.
abstract: Eosinophilic oesophagitis is an increasingly recognized allergic gastrointestinal disease, which is becoming more common. Although the average age at diagnosis is 30-50 years, it often affects very young children and carries significant long-term morbidity. While our understanding of its pathophysiology is accumulating, the precise pathways by which the disease arises remain unclear. There are inconsistencies in its diagnosis and definition, and a drive towards international standardization is underway. Current methods for diagnosis and monitoring are relatively invasive, and controversies surround their interpretation. Management strategies are imperfect and involve burdensome long-term dietary exclusions, or drug treatments with uncertain efficacy or serious side-effects. It is the focus of a rapidly increasing body of research, the latest insights from which are systematically presented in this review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Warner
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D057765:Eosinophilic Esophagitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000502:physiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans