Predictive factors for glucocorticoid therapy in children with eosinophilic gastroenteritis

To study the predictive factors for glucocorticoid therapy by analyzing the association between the clinical features and treatment regimens in children with eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 182 children with eosinophilic gastroenteritis who were admitted to Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center from January 2012 to December 2020. According to whether glucocorticoids were used, these children were divided into a glucocorticoid treatment group and a control group. The two groups were compared in terms of age, history of allergy, clinical symptoms, laboratory examination results, endoscopic findings, and pathological results of gastrointestinal mucosa. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed for the results with statistical significance.

Of the 182 children, 36 (19.8%) received glucocorticoid therapy. The rates of hematochezia, anemia, and mucosal ulceration/luminal stenosis under endoscopy and the mucosal eosinophil infiltration count were significantly higher in the glucocorticoid treatment group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The serum albumin level in the glucocorticoid treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that mucosal ulceration/luminal stenosis under endoscopy (OR=10.830, 95%CI: 3.090-37.961, P<0.001) and the increased mucosal eosinophil infiltration count (OR=0.967, 95%CI: 0.941-0.993, P=0.015) were predictive factors for glucocorticoid therapy in children with eosinophil gastroenteritis.

Mucosal ulceration/luminal stenosis under endoscopy or a significant increase in the mucosal eosinophil infiltration count based on pathology suggests that glucocorticoid therapy can be considered in children with eosinophil gastroenteritis.