Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) Learning Zone
Transcript: Diagnosing hidradenitis suppurativa
Dr Thrasyvoulos Tzellos
Interview recorded Sep 2024. All transcripts are created from interview footage and directly reflect the content of the interview at the time. The content is that of the speaker and is not adjusted by Medthority.
So diagnosis, and especially early diagnosis, early screening, is a critical part in the pathway and the patient journey in hidradenitis suppurativa because we know that still we have a big problem with a delay of diagnosis that is significantly more than psoriasis or other skin diseases. So it was very exciting to hear regarding the correct diagnosis between acne-like hidradenitis suppurativa and usually acne vulgaris. And especially in the EHSF session during the congress, we heard that the use of isotretinoin could help identify acne-like hidradenitis suppurativa, which will not respond to isotretinoin, and acne vulgaris, which is more severe. And ultrasonography as well. So a clear presentation during the congress showed that there is a problem diagnosis resistant acne vulgaris compared to hidradenitis suppurativa, which involves the face as well, and ultrasonography could guide our diagnosis better.
And of course, still we have unmet needs when it comes to correct screening and to identify which groups get a delay of diagnosis. In this sense, we had a very interesting study from France, with more than 1,000 patients included, which showed that still delay of diagnosis is a big problem in HS, but also women of lower education were significantly more affected by this. So it is important to introduce programmes to identify the disease early for HS patients. Furthermore, we had interesting data regarding different subgroups of the disease, an interesting study from Turkey regarding geriatrics, regarding hidradenitis suppurativa in elderly population. And it has been shown that almost all patients had at least one comorbidity and usually it was a cardiovascular comorbidity. And furthermore, most of these patients were treated only with antibiotics. So still an unmet need for this population.
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This content has been developed independently by Medthority who previously received educational funding from Novartis Pharma AG in order to help provide its healthcare professional members with access to the highest quality medical and scientific information, education and associated relevant content.