As the dog days of summer stretch on and we get ready for school to begin again, it is time once more to sit down, grab a cool beverage and curl up with the latest issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. This month the topic is “Everything Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE).” I recently mentioned on Bluesky, EoE is like an everything bagel but with eosinophils instead of an actual bagel (Follow me on Bluesky – you can find me at @annalseditor.bsky.social.)
The CME Review this month explores precision medicine strategies in risk identification, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with EoE and provides food for thought on how to better take care of your patients with EoE. The two reviews this month also focus on EoE. One of these reviews builds on the CME review by focusing on stratifying EoE by clinical heterogeneity and molecular endotyping as a means of advancing precision medicine. The other review explores “less invasive” ways to diagnose and monitor EoE. Do you use the string test or perform trans-nasal endoscopy? Perhaps you should – read the review and see if you believe these diagnostic techniques are within the allergists’ wheelhouse.
The Marginal Zone and Cartootorial this month explore elimination diets for EoE and point out that by “avoiding every protein on earth” you will still only reach 94% efficacy. Test your diagnostic skills with a challenging clinical case in which the authors take you on a journey slowly providing details of the patient’s case until the final reveal. Will you be able to figure out this perplexing case before the end?
This month includes another update of the popular yardstick series. The atopic dermatitis yardstick explores the new topical and systemic treatments that have become available (or will be available in the future) for treating this condition. Like all yardsticks, this is a “must read” update and will be directly applicable to your patient population.
Original articles this month explore the impact of socioeconomic status and acculturation on atopic disease prevalence, how COVID-19 affected development of allergic diseases, clinician and family perspectives on single maintenance and reliever therapy (SMART) for childhood asthma, the presence of bronchiectasis in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma, and the use of nasal steroids to mitigate the effects of air pollution in allergic rhinitis amongst others.
Letters include studies that analyze what happens when discontinuing omalizumab for chronic spontaneous urticaria, use of nitric oxide as a biomarker for food allergies in those without asthma, and onset of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome after chemotherapy.
You may have heard that Annals impact factor (a rough measure of the impact of a journal) increased from 4.7 to 7.1! This is a testament to the high-quality papers and reviews the journal is publishing. Even with this dramatic increase, the editorial team is committed to keeping Annals as the journal for the practicing clinician, and we hope you agree. So, if you have any comments, please email us (annals@ACAAI.org) with your thoughts (good or bad) about articles and the utility of the journal. With this new impact factor, Annals continues to bring the most up-to-date information to you so that you can provide the best possible care to your patients.
Mitchell H. Grayson, MD, FACAAI
Editor-in-Chief
