Publications by authors named "Robert Pesek"

Background: There are limited data comparing the effectiveness of multidisciplinary severe asthma clinics (SACs) with that of conventional single-discipline clinics (SDCs) for pediatric severe asthma.

Objective: Our aim was to compare asthma outcomes between SACs and SDCs clinics and examine longitudinal health outcomes for patients with severe asthma who were followed in SACs.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study comparing pediatric asthma outcomes among patients with severe asthma between 2018 and 2022 who were treated at the multidisciplinary Arkansas Children's SAC with those of patients with severe asthma treated at SDCs.

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Article Synopsis
  • NPIs significantly reduced asthma exacerbations and viral infections in pediatric patients during their enforcement from March 2020 to December 2022.
  • A total of 5,758 asthma exacerbations were recorded, with a 50% decline during NPIs, while 87% of the 70,682 respiratory tests returned positive for pathogens but showed decreased rates for some viruses.
  • After the NPIs ended, asthma exacerbations returned to pre-pandemic levels, and an unexpected spike in respiratory syncytial virus infections highlighted the importance of ongoing monitoring.
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The Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal disease Researchers (CEGIR) and The International Gastrointestinal Eosinophil Researchers (TIGERs) organized a daylong symposium at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The symposium featured new discoveries in basic and translational research as well as debates on the mechanisms and management of eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases. Updates on recent clinical trials and consensus guidelines were also presented.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the agreement and consistency between parent and child reports of symptoms in children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a condition affecting the esophagus.
  • Using data from 292 parent-child pairs over five years, the researchers found strong correlation in symptom reports between parents and children, indicating that both perspectives are aligned and reliable.
  • Results showed that while parent-reported quality of life scores remained stable, child reports improved over time, with younger children showing greater discrepancies between parent and child assessments, especially in psychosocial areas.
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Background: Dupilumab is a human monoclonal antibody that blocks interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 pathways and has shown efficacy in five different atopic diseases marked by type 2 inflammation, including eosinophilic esophagitis in adults and adolescents.

Methods: In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned, in a 2:2:1:1 ratio, patients 1 to 11 years of age with active eosinophilic esophagitis who had had no response to proton-pump inhibitors to 16 weeks of a higher-exposure or lower-exposure subcutaneous dupilumab regimen or to placebo (two groups) (Part A). At the end of Part A, eligible patients in each dupilumab group continued the same regimen and those in the placebo groups were assigned to higher-exposure or lower-exposure dupilumab for 36 weeks (Part B).

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The objective of the present study is to assess the rates of acquired tolerance to cow's milk (CM) after 36 months in subjects who consumed amino acid-based formula with synbiotics (AAF-S) or amino acid-based formula without synbiotics (AAF) during a 1-year intervention period in early life as part of the PRESTO study (Netherlands Trial Register number NTR3725). Differences in CM tolerance development between groups were analysed using a logistic regression model. Results show that the proportion of subjects (mean [±SD] age, 3.

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Food security encompassess the concept of access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Conversely, food insecurity (FI) refers to household-level economic and social conditions of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. FI is a key social determinant of health that can negatively affect nutrition and health outcomes, as it is estimated that 10.

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The Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Diseases and The International Gastrointestinal Eosinophil Researchers organized a day-long symposium at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The symposium featured a review of recent discoveries in the basic biology and pathogenesis of eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs) in addition to advances in our understanding of the clinical features of EGIDs. Diagnostic and management approaches were reviewed and debated, and clinical trials of emerging therapies were highlighted.

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Background: Best practice guidelines for asthma management recommend education and spirometry at specific intervals. A written asthma action plan with education and spirometry is ordered at the discretion of physicians at our institution. An initial chart review revealed that asthma education and spirometry were not consistently ordered in the pediatric primary care clinics.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers formed an international consensus to create a severity scoring index for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) to standardize treatment and management.
  • The team analyzed existing literature on symptoms, histology, and endoscopy to develop a scoring system called the Index of Severity for Eosinophilic Esophagitis (I-SEE), allowing clinicians to assess disease severity at clinic visits.
  • The I-SEE scoring system ranges from 0-6 for mild, 7-14 for moderate, and 15 or higher for severe EoE, and it aims to help in clinical practice beyond just eosinophil counts.
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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.

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Background & Aims: Substantial heterogeneity in terminology used for eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs), particularly the catchall term "eosinophilic gastroenteritis," limits clinical and research advances. We aimed to achieve an international consensus for standardized EGID nomenclature.

Methods: This consensus process utilized Delphi methodology.

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Background: For young children with peanut allergy, dietary avoidance is the current standard of care. We aimed to assess whether peanut oral immunotherapy can induce desensitisation (an increased allergic reaction threshold while on therapy) or remission (a state of non-responsiveness after discontinuation of immunotherapy) in this population.

Methods: We did a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in five US academic medical centres.

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Background: End points used to determine treatment efficacy in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have evolved over time. With multiple novel therapies in development for EoE, harmonization of outcomes measures will facilitate evidence synthesis and appraisal when comparing different treatments.

Objective: We sought to develop a core outcome set (COS) for controlled and observational studies of pharmacologic and diet interventions in adult and pediatric patients with EoE.

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Background: Tolerance development is an important clinical outcome for infants with cow's milk allergy.

Objective: This multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical study (NTR3725) evaluated tolerance development to cow's milk (CM) and safety of an amino acid-based formula (AAF) including synbiotics (AAF-S) comprising prebiotic oligosaccharides (oligofructose, inulin) and probiotic Bifidobacterium breve M-16V in infants with confirmed IgE-mediated CM allergy.

Methods: Subjects aged ≤13 months with IgE-mediated CM allergy were randomized to receive AAF-S (n = 80) or AAF (n = 89) for 12 months.

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Objective: To review novel therapeutics in development for treatment of eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs).

Data Sources: Clinical trial data (clinicaltrials.gov) and literature search on PubMed.

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Background: Little is known about the endoscopic and histologic findings of non-esophageal eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID).

Aim: To characterize the presenting endoscopic and histologic findings in patients with eosinophilic gastritis (EG), eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE), and eosinophilic colitis (EC) at diagnosis and 6 months after initiating the treatment.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at 6 US centers associated with the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Researchers.

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Eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs) are rare diseases of the gastrointestinal tract caused by allergic inflammation and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Initially described in 1978, recognition of these disorders has greatly increased over the past several decades. Thus far, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) has received the most focus, leading to significant advances in understanding of disease mechanisms, widely adopted guidelines for diagnosis and management, and ongoing clinical trials to provide expanded treatment options.

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Objectives: The literature related to eosinophilic gastritis (EG), gastroenteritis (EGE), and colitis (EC) is limited. We aimed to characterize rates of diagnosis, clinical features, and initial treatments for patients with EG, EGE, and EC.

Methods: In this retrospective study, data were collected from 6 centers in the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Researchers from 2005 to 2016.

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Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is rare but incidence and prevalence is increasing. EoE is characterized by eosinophilic inflammation of the esophagus causing gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, reflux, dysphagia, and food impactions. If untreated, remodeling and fibrosis of the esophagus can occur and stricture formation may result.

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Objectives/hypothesis: To delineate clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in the youngest of children.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Methods: A 7-year retrospective chart review of children with clinicopathologic diagnosis of EoE was performed with specific analysis of patients under 5 years old.

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