Browsing by Author "Geng, Bob"

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    A Clinical Severity Index for Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Development, Consensus, and Future Directions
    (Elsevier, 2022) Dellon, Evan S.; Khoury, Paneez; Muir, Amanda B.; Liacouras, Chris A.; Safroneeva, Ekaterina; Atkins, Dan; Collins, Margaret H.; Gonsalves, Nirmala; Falk, Gary W.; Spergel, Jonathan M.; Hirano, Ikuo; Chehade, Mirna; Schoepfer, Alain M.; Menard-Katcher, Calies; Katzka, David A.; Bonis, Peter A.; Bredenoord, Albert J.; Geng, Bob; Jensen, Elizabeth T.; Pesek, Robert D.; Feuerstadt, Paul; Gupta, Sandeep K.; Lucendo, Alfredo J.; Genta, Robert M.; Hiremath, Girish; McGowan, Emily C.; Moawad, Fouad J.; Peterson, Kathryn A.; Rothenberg, Marc E.; Straumann, Alex; Furuta, Glenn T.; Aceves, Seema S.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Background & aims: Disease activity and severity of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) dictate therapeutic options and management, but the decision-making process for determining severity varies among practitioners. To reduce variability in practice patterns and help clinicians monitor the clinical course of the disease in an office setting, we aimed to create an international consensus severity scoring index for EoE. Methods: A multidisciplinary international group of adult and pediatric EoE researchers and clinicians, as well as non-EoE allergy immunology and gastroenterology experts, formed 3 teams to review the existing literature on histology, endoscopy, and symptoms of EoE in the context of progression and severity. A steering committee convened a 1-day virtual meeting to reach consensus on each team's opinion on salient features of severity across key clinicopathologic domains and distill features that would allow providers to categorize disease severity. Results: Symptom features and complications and inflammatory and fibrostenotic features on both endoscopic and histologic examination were collated into a simplified scoring system-the Index of Severity for Eosinophilic Esophagitis (I-SEE)-that can be completed at routine clinic visits to assess disease severity using a point scale of 0-6 for mild, 7-14 for moderate, and ≥15 for severe EoE. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary team of experts iteratively created a clinically usable EoE severity scoring system denominated "I-SEE" to guide practitioners in EoE management by standardizing disease components reflecting disease severity beyond eosinophil counts. I-SEE should be validated and refined using data from future clinical trials and routine clinical practice to increase its utilization and functionality.
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    Preventing asthma in high risk kids (PARK) with omalizumab: Design, rationale, methods, lessons learned and adaptation
    (Elsevier, 2021-01) Phipatanakul, Wanda; Mauger, David T.; Guilbert, Theresa W.; Bacharier, Leonard B.; Durrani, Sandy; Jackson, Daniel J.; Martinez, Fernando D.; Fitzpatrick, Anne M.; Cunningham, Amparito; Kunselman, Susan; Wheatley, Lisa M.; Bauer, Cindy; Davis, Carla M.; Geng, Bob; Kloepfer, Kirsten M.; Lapin, Craig; Liu, Andrew H.; Pongracic, Jacqueline A.; Teach, Stephen J.; Chmiel, James; Gaffin, Jonathan M.; Greenhawt, Matthew; Gupta, Meera R.; Lai, Peggy S.; Lemanske, Robert F.; Morgan, Wayne J.; Sheehan, William J.; Stokes, Jeffrey; Thorne, Peter S.; Oettgen, Hans C.; Israel, Elliot; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Asthma remains one of the most important challenges to pediatric public health in the US. A large majority of children with persistent and chronic asthma demonstrate aeroallergen sensitization, which remains a pivotal risk factor associated with the development of persistent, progressive asthma throughout life. In individuals with a tendency toward Type 2 inflammation, sensitization and exposure to high concentrations of offending allergens is associated with increased risk for development of, and impairment from, asthma. The cascade of biological responses to allergens is primarily mediated through IgE antibodies and their production is further stimulated by IgE responses to antigen exposure. In addition, circulating IgE impairs innate anti-viral immune responses. The latter effect could magnify the effects of another early life exposure associated with increased risk of the development of asthma – viral infections. Omalizumab binds to circulating IgE and thus ablates antigen signaling through IgE-related mechanisms. Further, it has been shown restore IFN-α response to rhinovirus and to reduce asthma exacerbations during the viral season. We therefore hypothesized that early blockade of IgE and IgE mediated responses with omalizumab would prevent the development and reduce the severity of asthma in those at high risk for developing asthma. Herein, we describe a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of omalizumab in 2–3 year old children at high risk for development of asthma to prevent the development and reduce the severity of asthma. We describe the rationale, methods, and lessons learned in implementing this potentially transformative trial aimed at prevention of asthma.