This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Hidradenitis suppurativa linked with thyroid disorders

A significantly higher prevalence of thyroid disorders was found among patients with hidradenitis suppurativa, and additional study to increase the strength of the association was encouraged in a research letter published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“Although HS is thought to be an autoinflammatory disease in contrast to the autoimmune nature of the thyroid disorders, production of inflammatory cytokines such as [tumor necrosis factor]-alpha and [interleukin]-1 beta in HS could trigger the autoimmune process of thyroid disorders in susceptible individuals,” wrote Prakash Acharya, MBBS, MD, and Mahesh Mathur, MD, DCP, both from the department of dermatology, College of Medical Sciences in Bharatpur, Nepal.

A search of PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases was employed using various terms associated with thyroid disorder and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) to assess a possible association between the two. Case reports, reviews and studies without controls were excluded.

Six studies encompassing 39,748 patients with HS and 206,967 controls were included.

All studies showed a higher prevalence for thyroid disorders in patients with HS; however, the results were statistically significant in only three studies, according to researchers. Heterogeneity was determined significant. Using funnel plot examination, researchers did not reveal any publication bias.

The researchers found a significantly higher prevalence of thyroid disorders among patients with HS (OR = 1.88; 95% CI, 1.25-2.81).

The study lacked subgroup analysis based on severity and duration of HS, due to insufficient data, according to the researchers. Separate analyses according to the type of thyroid disorder were not performed and represents another limitation. – by Abigail Sutton

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.