Study IDs risk factors for severe hidradenitis suppurativa

(HealthDay)—Risk factors associated with severity of the disease may help guide therapy for hidradenitis suppurativa, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Anne M.R. Schrader, M.D., of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of 846 Dutch patients to identify factors associated with the severity of hidradenitis suppurativa.

The researchers found that risk factors associated with the severity of hidradenitis suppurativa included male sex (odds ratio [OR], 2.11; P < 0.001); disease duration (OR, 1.03; P < 0.001); body mass index (OR, 1.03; P = 0.01); smoking pack-years (OR, 1.02; P = 0.001); and lesions of the axillary (OR, 2.24; P < 0.001), perianal (OR, 1.92; P < 0.001), and mammary (OR, 1.48; P = 0.03) areas. In women, the disease was characterized by earlier onset, more inguinal and mammary lesions, and more frequent family history of the condition. In men with the disease, gluteal, perianal, and atypical lesions were more common as well as history of severe acne. Patients with a family history of the disease typically had earlier onset, longer duration, more extensive disease, history of severe acne, and smoking habit.

"The severity risk factors identified in this study could help physicians to select patients who need close monitoring and who would benefit from early, aggressive therapy," the authors write.