OBJECTIVES: HES and EGPA are two rare eosinophilic diseases with overlapping symptoms, diagnostic challenges and treatments. This pooled sub-analysis characterised European country-by-country differences in management and healthcare resource use (HCRU) of patients with HES or EGPA.

METHODS: Two retrospective chart review studies of patients with HES or EGPA from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK included patients ≥6 years old with a confirmed diagnosis of HES, or ≥12 years old with a confirmed diagnosis of EGPA, and ≥1 year of follow-up after index (first physician encounter: Jan2015–Dec2019; patients could be newly diagnosed or have a prior qualifying diagnosis). Data were pooled to assess physician and patient characteristics, diagnostic assessments, treatment use, clinical manifestations and HCRU.

RESULTS: Physicians (N=325) reviewed data from 687 patients: 41%(n=280) had HES and 59%(n=407) had EGPA. Physician/patient characteristics were mostly evenly distributed across countries, with some variation in physician speciality. At diagnosis, mean(SD) patient age ranged from 40(15) – 46(15) years (France highest); median(IQR) disease duration ranged from 2.3(1.8, 2.9) – 3.2(2.0, 5.7) years (Italy highest). The proportion of patients with diagnostic imaging scans ranged from 71–87% (Spain highest). Oral corticosteroid use was consistently high (90–100% of patients); biologics use ranged from 26–60% (Germany lowest, Italy highest). Patients in all countries experienced clinical manifestations, most commonly fatigue (41–53%), lung (38–54%), ENT (32–48%) and skin (26–39%); cardiovascular manifestations were twice as common in Italy(16%) as the UK(8%). HCRU differed across countries (hospitalisations:26–38%; emergency visits:15–47%; outpatient visits:71–91%) but was consistently lowest in Germany.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite variations in diagnostic testing, treatment, clinical manifestations and HCRU, overall disease characteristics and management approaches were mostly consistent between countries. Oral corticosteroid use was high, and hospitalisations and emergency visits were common, suggesting opportunities to optimise care for HES and EGPA.