Treatment Outcomes of Patients With Overlapping Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease After Antireflux Surgery

Abstract

Background: The relationship between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is complex, and there are scant data about the role of fundoplication when GERD/EoE overlap. We aimed to describe treatment outcomes of patients with GERD/EoE overlap undergoing antireflux surgery. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with overlapping EoE and GERD who had undergone laparoscopic fundoplications. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, EoE history, and procedural/surgical data were extracted from the medical record. Endoscopic and histologic responses were assessed for pre- and post-operative endoscopies. Results: We identified 10 patients with GERD/EoE overlap who underwent antireflux surgery, and 9 patients underwent post-operative repeat EGD. All patients had heartburn and regurgitation symptoms that were refractory to PPI and/or persistent erosive disease, and also demonstrated signs/symptoms of EoE such as dysphagia (80%), food impaction (60%), fibrostenotic disease requiring dilation (70%), and lack of symptom or histologic response to topical steroids (70%). Patients demonstrated expected improvements in erosive esophagitis and hiatal hernia. The peak eosinophil count improved from 47.1 ± 35.9 eos/hpf to 7.8 ± 12.3 eos/hpf ( P = .02). Total EREFS score decreased from 3.0 ± 2.2 to 1.2 ± 2.3 ( P = .009). Conclusions: Patients who have GERD/EoE overlap can have endoscopic and histologic improvement in both conditions after fundoplication. This implies that in a subset of patients, GERD may drive an EoE response, and this must be recognized for successful treatment.