Eosinophilic esophagitis, otherwise known as EoE, is a chronic allergic inflammatory disease caused by a build-up of eosinophils in the esophagus. Though EoE is a relatively new disease, it is now recognized as one of the most prevalent esophageal diseases worldwide and the leading cause of dysphagia and food impaction.
EoE can present differently in children and adults, and diagnosis and treatment are challenging, involving adult and pediatric gastroenterologists, allergists, pathologists and dieticians.
In the last 30 years, EoE has gone from a little-known rare disease to a well-characterized, chronic disease. There are guidelines for diagnosis and evidence-based management recommendations. Pathogenesis, predisposing genetic, molecular and environmental features are being decoded. These developments have spurred a host of treatments, including dietary elimination and swallowed/topical corticosteroids, as well as novel agents that are still in development.
Despite these advances, variability in practice patterns and monitoring the clinical course or natural history of a patient during follow-up in the office setting continues to be a challenge in clinical practice.
To address these gaps and provide actionable education for clinicians, AGA launched an initiative to improve management of patients with EoE, EoE: Expand, Optimize, Excel.
The initiative includes the EoE Guideline Education program, led by program chairs Ikuo Hirano, MD, Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine, Glenn T. Furuta, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Nirmala P. Gonsalves, MD, Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine.
Fifteen leaders in EoE clinical practice trained by the program chairs in a curriculum custom-designed for this program are available to provide individual presentations to practices, health systems, medical education meetings and more.
A learning session is available that’s free and only one hour, including 15 minutes of Q&A. Completion of the session and pre/post-test will provide 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
The learning objectives are to:
- Recognize guideline recommended management strategies for EoE
- Discuss latest guideline recommendations in EoE clinical practice
- Discuss emerging therapies and practice changes for EoE management
AGA members and their colleagues can take advantage of this offering in three different ways:
- Request a presentation at your meeting or organization. You can select a preferred speaker and AGA’s team will handle scheduling and logistics at no cost to your organization. View a complete list of our regional leaders.
- Register for a free AGA EoE Guideline Education webinar provided by one of our speakers at a date and time convenient to you. AGA is offering four free sessions two for adult gastroenterologists and two for pediatric gastroenterologists—that you can join virtually. Register for a training session today.
- Review the program materials and complete the pre-and post-test online at AGAU.
