Single center retrospective analysis of association of hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic infl ammatory bowel disease

Summary: Introduction: Association between hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exists. Prevalence of IBD in patients with HS is not clear. The aim of this paper is to determine the prevalence of IBD in patients with HS, evaluate risk factors and possible phenotype of patients with HS and IBD. Methods: Single center retrospective analysis of 241 patients with HS was carried out and medical files were searched for inflammatory bowel disease accordingly. Epidemiologic data of HS were collected. Results: IBD had a prevalence of 5.8%. Out of this number 13 (92.9%) suffered from Crohn’s disease (CD) and 1 (7.1%) from ulcerative colitis (UC). Eight patients (57.1%) were referred to the dermatologist by gastroenterologist and in six patients (42.9%) history of IBD was detected by dermatologist during routine examination. Special phenotype of the disease associated with IBD was not confirmed. The study points out possible existence of common comorbidities and risk factors such as smoking and obesity. Discussion: Our study confirmed similar data like those available in literature, where strong association between CD and HS is present and weaker with UC and HS. Conclusion: The prevalence of IBD in HS patients (5.8%) however these patients do not have a distinct HS phenotype. Key words: hidradenitis suppurativa – chronic inflammatory bowel disease – Crohn’s disease – ulcerative colitis – comorbidities – association – risk factors