Viscous topical is more effective than nebulized steroid therapy for patients with eosinophilic esophagitis.

We performed a randomized trial to compare nebulized and viscous topical corticosteroid treatments for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Subjects with incident EoE (n = 25) received budesonide 1 mg twice daily, either nebulized and then swallowed (NEB) or as an oral viscous slurry (OVB), for 8 weeks. Baseline eosinophil counts for the NEB and OVB groups were 101 and 83 (P = .62). Posttreatment counts were 89 and 11 (P = .02). The mucosal medication contact time, measured by scintigraphy, was higher for the OVB group than the NEB group (P < .005) and was inversely correlated with eosinophil count (R = -0.67; P = .001). OVB was more effective than NEB in reducing numbers of esophageal eosinophils in patients with EoE. OVB provided a significantly higher level of esophageal exposure to the therapeutic agent, which correlated with lower eosinophil counts.