Hidradenitis Suppurativa Diagnosis Not Found to Be Associated With Greater Stroke Risk

The following article is part of coverage from the American Academy of Dermatology’s Annual Meeting (AAD 2020). Because of concerns regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, all AAD 2020 sessions and presentations were transitioned to a virtual format. While live events will not proceed as planned, readers can click here to view more news related to research presented during the AAD VMX 2020 virtual experience.

A diagnosis of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) was not found to be associated with a greater risk for stroke, although there was a trend for a greater risk in patients ≤60 years with vs without HS, according to study results presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s Virtual Meeting Experience (AAD VMX) 2020, held online from June 12 to 14, 2020.

Although HS has been associated with a greater risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes, the investigators noted, there is diverging evidence regarding the associated risk for stroke.

In this study, real-world data from dermatology patients from the Midwestern United States (US) were obtained from a medical record repository containing data from > 8 million individuals. The data of patients who had received a diagnosis of HS — based on International Classification of Diseases Ninth and Tenth Revision (ICD 9-10) codes 705.83 and L73.2, respectively — by a dermatologist between 2001 and 2018, were examined. Patients who were followed by a clinician for at least 1 month after diagnosis were included in the analysis. The control cohort consisted of dermatology patients who had not received an HS diagnosis during this time period. The study’s outcome of interest was a stroke diagnosis (hemorrhagic or ischemic, based on ICD 9-10 codes).

Of the 248,054 dermatology patients in this repository, 1324 received a diagnosis of HS. In this cohort, the risk for stroke was not found to be greater in patients with vs without an HS diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.23; 95% CI, 0.998-2.196; P =.26).

In patients aged 18 to 60 years (n=1223), but not in patients 61 to 89 years, the risk for stroke tended to be greater, although not reaching statistical significance, in patients with vs without an HS diagnosis (aOR, 1.59; 95% CI, 0.96-2.63; P =.069).

“Contrary to some prior reports, this large, urban Midwestern US dermatology patient population did not yield a significant association between HS and stroke (hemorrhagic and ischemic in aggregate) in either age cohort,” noted the study authors. “However, the trend toward significantly higher risk for stroke in patients [with HS] ≤ 60 years of age compared [with] same age of patients with no HS, has not been previously reported, suggesting that HS may play an independent role in the developing of stroke in this patient population.”

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References

Parker JJ, Gwillim EC, Ali Y, Pease DR, Laumann AE, West DP, et al. Risk of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke subsequent to diagnosis for hidradenitis suppurativa: real world data from a large urban Midwestern U.S. patient population. Presented at: AAD VMX 2020; June 12-14, 2020. Poster # 16834.