Evaluation of sociodemographic, clinical features, consolidating diseases and treatment characteristics in patients with hidradenitis supurativa

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) or acne inversa is a chronic, recurrent, painful inflammatory disease characterized by deep-seated nodules and abscesses leading to sinus tracts and scars. In recent years, academic interest in HS has increased, and it has become one of the most studied topics today. However, in the literature, the number of epidemiological studies on HS in Turkey is still limited. We conducted this study to describe the characteristics of the HS patient population living in and around Antalya, contribute to the epidemiological data on HS patients in Turkey, and draw attention to the differences by comparing them with the data reported from other countries. A total of 100 patients with a diagnosis of HS followed in the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology and Venereal Diseases were included in the study. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients (age, gender, occupation, family history, educational status, marital status, smoking, alcohol use and BMI, age at onset of disease, duration of illness, sites of involvement, disease severity, DLQI score), concomitant diseases and treatment parameters were reviewed retrospectively. According to Hurley staging and Physician's Global Assessment score (Hs-PGA), disease severity was classified in each patient. In our study, the male/female ratio was 2.6:1. Family history was present in 22% of the patients. The smoking rate (77%) was significantly higher in men (84.7%) than in women (57.1%). In addition, 70% of the patients were overweight and obese. Among the comorbidities, hypertriglyceridemia (13%), DM (12%), psychiatric diseases (11%), and hypertension (7%) were the most frequent ones. The axillary region was the most common area of involvement at the disease onset or course of the disease. The onset of the disease in the armpit was significantly higher in men, and the frequency of onset from the hips was significantly higher in women. Atypical localization was more common in men. Treatment features were similar to other studies conducted in our country. 97 Involvement of the armpit, perianal region, under the breast or between the breasts was correlated with the severity of the disease. When we compare our findings with studies from other countries, some differences are observed. However, the fact that we reach more similar results with the studies conducted in our country suggests that the specific genetic, ethnic, geographical and cultural characteristics of each society may affect the etiopathogenesis of HS. To our knowledge, the chronology of disease onset regions among HS patients was first questioned in our study. Although the number of our patients is limited, we think that our study will contribute to the literature on epidemiological studies conducted in our country.