Photo Credit: Lea Rae
The following is a summary of “Therapeutic burden in hidradenitis suppurativa: a cross-sectional study of 557 patients,” published in the October 2024 issue of Dermatology by Haselgruber et al.
Therapeutic burden (TB) was identified as a potential predictor of response to biological therapy in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the determinants of TB in real-world clinical settings among patients with HS to elucidate its utility as a tool for guiding therapeutic decision-making.
They examined all consecutive patients with HS attending a HS clinic from 2017 to 2024. The primary variable was TB, the cumulative sum of previous systemic treatment cycles and surgical interventions for HS and analyzed the association between sociodemographic or clinical factors and increased TB.
The results showed that 557 patients with HS were included, with 50.81% being women and a mean age of 41.87 (14.19) years. Most patients (62.30%) were referred from general dermatology consultations, and the mean disease duration was 17.52 (11.51) years. Regarding disease severity, 46.50% were classified as Hurley II, while 42.19% had an International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score (IHS-4) between 4 and 10. Prior to their baseline visit, 9.70% of patients had undergone biological therapy, predominantly adalimumab (88.89%). The mean TB was 2.42 (2.25) systemic medical and surgical interventions, with referral from general dermatology or other departments, older age, longer disease duration, greater HS severity, presence of pilonidal sinus, and previous biological therapy all significantly associated with higher TB.
They concluded that TB effectively reflected severity and progression in HS and guided treatment decisions regarding necessary therapy changes.