Assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis in hidradenitis suppurativa

Background Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) have an increased prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Objective Our aim was to investigate the association between subclinical atherosclerosis, detected by carotid ultrasound, and HS. Methods A prospective observation and analytical study assessing subclinical atherosclerosis using carotid ultrasound in patients with HS. Results A total of 62 HS patients and 62 matched controls were studied. Diabetes mellitus (22.6% vs. 6.5%, P = 0.020), hypertension (41.9% vs. 12.9%, P < 0.001) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) (38.7% vs. 8.1%, P < 0.001) were more common in HS patients. Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (59.7% vs. 40.3%, P = 0.031), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (61.1 vs. 29.0%, P < 0.001) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (46.8% vs. 9.7%, P < 0.001) were more frequent in patients with HS. Subclinical atherosclerosis was present in 30.6% of HS patients and in 16.1% of the controls subjects (P = 0.06). After a logistic regression analysis, elevated age was associated with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis (P < 0.001), and HS showed a tendency towards this association [adjusted OR (95% CI) 3.8 (0.9-16.0), P = 0.066]. This association was statistically significant between patients 40 years and older [OR (95% CI) 4.9 (1.8-13.1)]. Conclusions Our clinical results indicate that patients with HS have a higher prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis than expected when correcting for traditional risk factors. The findings support the conclusions of previous epidemiological studies.