Reduction of Esophageal Epithelial Pathology and Endoscopic Abnormalities Following Treatment With Oral Budesonide Suspension (OBS) in Pediatric Subjects With Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE)

4q12 Tricolor Orange/Green/Aqua rearrangement probe). Automated image analysis of the esophageal epithelium was performed (Ikoniskope Digital Microscopy System) to quantify the number of diseased vs normal nuclei in each of the study groups. Results: A total of 29 subjects (mean age 33 yrs; 16 male; 24 Caucasian) were identified (8 normal, 6 GERD, and 15 EoE (5 steroid refractory); see Table). The maximum eosinophil count was 0, 1, and 75, in the normal, GERD, and EoE groups, respectively. A median of 171, 171, and 139 nuclei could be assessed in the normal, GERD, and EoE groups. Overall, there was no difference in the proportion of normal nuclei in the normal, GERD, and EoE groups (98 vs 99 vs 99%; p=0.42). In the subgroup of steroid-refractory EoE patients, the F-P gene was also not detected; 99% of the nuclei in this group were normal. Conclusions: In this pilot study, the presence of the FIP1L1PDGFRα fusion gene was not detected with increased frequency in EoE as compared to GERD or normal controls, even when the analysis was limited to steroid-refractory EoE patients. The F-P fusion gene does not appear to be a pathogenic mechanism in EoE. Characteristics of the study population and results of FISH for the F-P fusion gene