Essential Considerations for Radiologists in Diagnosing Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

Hidradenitis suppurativa, also referred to as inverse acne, manifests as a persistent inflammatory skin disorder characterized by lesions such as deep nodules, abscesses, sinus tracts, and fibrotic scars. These manifestations predominantly occur in skin folds and intertriginous areas, notably in the axillary, inguinal, perianal, perineal, and inframammary regions. Due to similarities with other conditions in its initial stages, accurate diagnosis of hidradenitis suppurativa is often delayed, sometimes spanning several years. Diagnosis relies on identifying specific morphologic features (such as deep, inflamed, and painful nodules; sinus tracts; and scars), considering the affected sites (skin folds and areas with apocrine glands), and recognizing the chronic nature of the condition (persistent course with periods of exacerbation and remission). There are no definitive biologic or pathologic diagnostic tests, and biopsy of the affected area is not necessary. Treatment varies based on severity and may include topical and systemic antibiotics, hormonal therapy, immunomodulators, and surgery. Due to associated pain, increased site sensitivity, secretion drainage, odor, and scarring, this condition can have a negative psychosocial impact. Imaging studies, including high-frequency US and MRI with subsequent three-dimensional reconstruction, serve as valuable tools for precise staging, monitoring disease activity, and preoperative assessment. Currently, high-frequency US stands as the preferred method, incorporating sonographic classifications, while MRI and thee-dimensional imaging represent an emerging and promising approach. Imaging helps identify the extent of sinus tracts, assess involvement dimensions in advanced disease stages, and monitor proposed treatments. ©RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material and the slide presentation from the RSNA Annual Meeting are available for this article.

Automated classification of hidradenitis suppurativa disease severity by convolutional neural network analyses using calibrated clinical images.

BACKGROUND: The assessment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) severity requires detailed, and error-prone lesion counts. This proof-of-concept study aimed to automatically classify HS disease severity using machine learning of clinical smartphone images. METHODS: 777 ambient-light and size-controlled images were used to build a class-balanced synthetic dataset (n = 7675). Convolutional neural networks (CNN) were used for automated severity classification (scale 0-3), and to assess disease-dynamics. International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4) served as reference. A U-NET algorithm was implemented for automated localization of diseased skin. RESULTS: CNNs were able to distinguish no/mild from moderate/severe disease with an overall prediction accuracy of 78% [receiver operating curve (AUC) 0.85]. Correct IHS4 classification was achieved with an overall accuracy of 72% (AUC 0.84-0.89). In addition, disease dynamics using IHS4 numerical values aligned with CNN outputs (NRMSE 0.262). The UNET algorithm localized lesions with a pixel accuracy of 88.1% and test loss of 0.42. LIMITATIONS: Limitations in assessing tattooed and hairy skin. Limited number of patients with dark skin colour and Hurley I. CONCLUSION: CNNs were able to distinguish no/mild from moderate/severe disease, classify disease severity over time, and automatically identify diseased skin areas and the skin phototype. This study breaks new grounds for fast, reliable, reproducible and easy-to-use HS severity assessments using clinical images.

Update on Ultrasound Diagnostic Criteria and New Ultrasound Severity and Activity Scorings of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Modified SOS-HS and US-HSA.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a devasting autoimmune cutaneous disease that affects the hair follicles and can clinically present palpable nodules, abscesses, and tunnels (fistulas), usually in the intertriginous regions. It has been widely reported that color Doppler ultrasound can detect subclinical abnormalities and stage the severity of the disease more accurately. Nevertheless, the ultrasound diagnostic criteria were reported with 15 MHz 10 years ago, and now it is possible to detect early anatomical abnormalities in HS using 70 MHz. Thus, an update of the ultrasonographic diagnostic criteria is needed. The most widely used sonographic staging of severity of HS (SOS-HS) includes the number of affected regions, besides counting the number of key lesions like pseudocysts, fluid collections, and tunnels; however, the total number of affected regions may fit better in an activity scoring. Furthermore, a high number of tunnels or communicated tunnels can complicate the management and may indicate an even more urgent treatment, which should be considered in the severity classification. To date, no hidradenitis scoring of activity has been reported in the literature, making it difficult to track the degree of inflammation under treatment objectively. Therefore, two new scorings are proposed. The first is an updated sonographic scoring of severity called modified SOS-HS (mSOS-HS), and the second is an activity ultrasound scoring of HS called US-HSA. Both staging systems can provide better anatomical information for discriminating the categories and, therefore, selecting more appropriate treatments and supporting research and clinical trials by giving more objective anatomical tools in real-world settings.

Evaluation of post-surgical complications of hidradenitis suppurativa lesions explored with presurgical ultra-high frequency ultrasound mapping.

OBJECTIVE: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the hair follicle. Its treatment often requires a surgical approach. The aim of our study was to evaluate the occurrence of post-surgical complications following a new standard of surgical management. This included presurgical lesion mapping by ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) with a 70MHz probe. Postoperative management was based on the principles of HS-TIME (time, inflammation/infection, moisture, edges). METHOD: A single-centre, retrospective study was conducted by the Department of Dermatology of the University of Pisa. Patients with moderate and severe HS, refractory to previous medical and surgical therapies, were enrolled. All of the patients were treated with wide surgical excision of lesions, previously explored through a UHFUS evaluation with VEVO MD (Fujifilm VisualSonics, Inc., Canada) using a 48MHz and a 70MHz ultrasound probe. Following surgery, all patients were treated with secondary intention healing following the principles of HS-TIME. For each patient, we assessed the occurrence of post-surgical complications at follow-up visit six months after surgery. For each patient we assessed the occurrence of early post-surgical complications at every follow-up visit after surgery until complete wound healing. The occurrence of delayed complications was then assessed in all patients with an observation time after complete healing of >3 months (n=23). RESULTS: A total of 26 patients were enrolled in the study. There were no reported cases of post-surgical bleeding or haematoma occurrence, while three (11.5%) patients developed minor surgical site infection. The average severity of pain decreased from a numerical rating scale of 5.3 immediately after surgery to 1.3 after four weeks. The average healing time was 33.3±16.8 days, and only five (19.2%) patients reported a complete wound healing time of >6 weeks. Focusing on delayed complications: 1/23 (4.3%) patient had hypertrophic scarring; 2/23 (8.7%) patients reported dysaesthesia; and 2/23 (8.7%) cases of clinical relapse were reported. No cases of limited mobility at the surgery site were registered. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study demonstrated the efficacy of a novel surgical protocol, including a preoperative ultrasound evaluation and appropriate postoperative wound management. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the observed results; however, we conclude that the low recurrence rates and post-surgical complications confirmed that our proposed protocol would represent an effective strategy for the management of patients with HS eligible for surgical therapy.

The use of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in the management of hidradenitis suppurativa: a narrative review.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflammatory follicular skin disease that frequently affects the apocrine gland-bearing skin of the axillary, inguinal and anogenital regions. HS has a significant impact on the psychosocial health and quality of life of patients. Diagnosis of HS is typically clinical, and relies on the ability of physicians to recognize the signs of HS. However, lesions may present at the dermal and subcutaneous skin layers, which cannot be diagnosed by clinical examination alone. Further, the complexity of the clinical presentation of HS can lead to misdiagnosis and delay of diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Imaging is an important tool that can address these issues by detecting inflammatory activity and the early subclinical and dermal features of HS, and accurately characterizing lesional morphology, thereby informing on optimal therapeutic strategies. Overall, imaging is a key tool that can be used in conjunction with clinical examination to improve the management of HS by providing additional information to physicians, and thus optimize clinical decision making. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of the general role of imaging in the management of HS, and we illustrate HS-specific applications of two pertinent imaging modalities, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. Finally, based on the literature, we summarize their uses in HS and provide considerations relating to standardizing the practise of ultrasound and effectively implementing the use of imaging in the management of HS.

Can Ultrasound Examinations Generate Pain in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients? Results from a Multicentric Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Pain is not a trivial issue for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients and has been considered a domain in the Core Outcome Set. To date, there is no evidence about pain caused by the ultrasound examinations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the presence of pain generated by the ultrasound examinations of HS patients. METHODS: A multicentric cross-sectional study for detecting pain during the ultrasound examinations of HS patients using a validated verbal questionnaire immediately after the imaging studies. Statistical analysis included demographic data and possible associations with sex, age, location, clinical (Hurley), and ultrasonographic scoring (SOS-HS). The statistical tests were two proportions Z test, χ2 test, Student's t test, and ANOVA. A p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: 317 patients met the criteria. 77.3% of them did not present pain. Of cases with pain, 59.8% were mild, 16.7% moderate, and 23.6% severe. No significant association was found with sex, age, staging, location, or the number of affected regions. Although nonsignificant, severe pain cases were more frequent in the clinical Hurley III and ultrasonographic SOS-HS III stages. CONCLUSION: Pain generated by the ultrasound examination of HS patients is infrequent.

High inflammation in hidradenitis suppurativa extends to perilesional skin and can be subdivided by lipocalin-2 expression.

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease presenting with diverse manifestations ranging from nodules and abscesses to draining tunnels. Whether the underlying inflammation from lesions extends to relatively healthy-appearing adjacent perilesional and distant nonlesional skin has not been systematically evaluated. OBJECTIVE: We sought to characterize lesional, perilesional, and nonlesional skin in patients with HS. METHODS: Skin biopsy samples were collected under ultrasound guidance from patients with active, untreated moderate-to-severe HS. Site-matched control biopsy samples from healthy volunteers were used for comparison. RESULTS: RNA sequencing demonstrated that HS skin clustered separately from healthy control skin, with perilesional and lesion skin clustering together and away from nonlesional skin. Immunohistochemistry analysis identified psoriasiform hyperplasia with keratin 16 positivity in both perilesional and lesional skin, with comparable levels of CD3+, CD11c+, and neutrophil elastase-positive cellular infiltration. There was a marked upregulation of IL-17 signaling in perilesional and lesional skin. HS samples clustered on the basis of expression of lipocalin-2 (LCN2), with samples characterized by high LCN2 expression in the skin exhibiting a differing transcriptomic profile with significantly higher overall inflammation than that of skin characterized by low LCN2 levels. CONCLUSIONS: Perilesional HS skin has a transcriptomic and molecular profile comparable to that of lesional skin. HS can be grouped into 2 distinct subtypes based on molecular levels of LCN2 in the skin, with the LCN2-high subtype exhibiting an overall higher inflammatory burden and an upregulation of targetable cytokines. To our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize a unique HS subtype (and a potential endotype) that may guide future therapeutic targets.

Hidradenitis suppurativa: Morphologic and vascular study of nodular inflammatory lesions by means of optical coherence tomography.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory disease characterized by a recurrent-remission trend and clinical lesions that range from asymptomatic to inflamed, deep-seated nodules with scarring and suppuration. The aim of our study was to identify morphologic and vascular features of HS nodules by means of dynamic optical coherence tomography (D-OCT) and to define if they are correlated to patient endotype and risk of disease progression. A set of standardized clinical pictures and D-OCT images were acquired from 57 inflammatory nodules of 40 patients affected by HS. A set of 20 clinical and D-OCT images were acquired from 20 healthy volunteers as a control group. The comparison of D-OCT features among HS and control group was analysed. The correlation between HS patient endotype and D-OCT features of the lesions was calculated. D-OCT enabled to identify vascular and morphological aspects characterizing HS nodular inflammatory lesions. In addition, several D-OCT features were significantly different among distinct disease endotypes. The characterization of HS nodular inflammatory lesions through D-OCT, corresponding to blood vessel dilation and inflammatory associated hyper-vascularization, may have important clinical consequences in the assessment of HS risk of progression, therapeutic decisions and treatment efficacy monitoring.

Assessment of inter-rater reliability of clinical hidradenitis suppurativa outcome measures using ultrasonography.

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) staging and severity is typically based upon physical examination findings, which can result in misclassification of severity based on subclinical disease activity and significant variation between healthcare providers. Ultrasonography (US) is an objective tool to help evaluate subclinical disease and to more accurately classify disease severity. AIM: To evaluate inter-rater reliability in HS disease severity assessment using clinical and US techniques. METHODS: In total, 20 subjects underwent clinical evaluation of HS, independently by two physicians, using clinical outcome measures, including Hurley, Sartorius, HS Physician Global Assessment (HS-PGA) and Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response (HiSCR). US was subsequently performed, and clinical assessments were repeated. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were obtained to evaluate inter-rater agreement of each outcome measure before and after US. RESULTS: Pre-US to post-US improvement in ICC was seen with the Sartorius, HiSCR nodule and abscess count, and the HiSCR draining fistula count. The scores went from having 'good' rater agreement for Sartorius and HiSCR nodule and abscess count, to 'poor' rater agreement for HiSCR draining fistula count, to 'excellent' rater agreement among these scores. CONCLUSION: US improved inter-rater agreement and should be used in conjunction with physical examination findings to evaluate disease severity to ensure uniform staging of HS.

Doppler ultrasound-based noninvasive biomarkers in hidradenitis suppurativa: evaluation of analytical and clinical validity.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for valid and reliable biomarkers in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) for diagnosis and disease activity monitoring. Imaging-based biomarkers have the potential to fulfil this unmet need but no evaluation of analytical or clinical validity has yet been undertaken. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the analytical and clinical validity of sonographic epidermal thickness, Doppler ultrasound and dermal tunnel diameter in patients with HS. METHODS: Twenty-two participants with HS were recruited and underwent a total of 65 matched ultrasound and skin biopsies of lesional, perilesional and unaffected tissue. Ultrasound measurements were performed in triplicate with mean values used. Skin biopsies underwent immunohistochemistry as per previously published methods. Analytical validity was assessed in individual ultrasound-biopsy pairs (n = 65) by comparisons of sonographic variables with histological correlates. Clinical validity was assessed in individual patients (n = 22) by comparing measures of overall disease activity with sonographic outcomes. RESULTS: Epidermal thickness, dermal tunnel diameter and power Doppler intensity were assessed. Sonographic epidermal thickness and dermal tunnel diameter have high analytical validity with corresponding histological measurements. Power Doppler intensity demonstrated high correlation with dermal CD3+ and CD11c+ cell counts but not neutrophil elastase-positive cells. Power Doppler ultrasound has significant correlation with pain scores, abscess and nodule count, International HS Severity Scoring System score and number of draining tunnels. CONCLUSIONS: Sonographic epidermal thickness and dermal tunnel diameter have acceptable levels of analytical validity in the assessment of HS lesions. Power Doppler intensity demonstrates acceptable clinical and analytical validity, suggesting it is a valid imaging-based biomarker in HS.

Ultrasound-guided injection of intralesional steroids in acute hidradenitis suppurativa lesions: A prospective study.

The management of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) flares with intralesional steroids lacks strong scientific evidence but limited data suggest that it may be useful. The objective of this study is to assess the clinical and ultrasound responses of HS flares to ultrasound-guided injections of intralesional triamcinolone (40 mg/ml) with a dilution 1:4 versus 1:2 at 30-day (t1), 60-day (t2), and 90-day (t3) follow-up. We recruited patients with ≤3 acute lesions, unresponsive to topical therapy. At baseline we assessed lesions clinically and by ultra-high frequency ultrasound (48 or 70 MHz) and randomly performed an ultrasound-guided injection of triamcinolone. Assessments were repeated at t1, t2, and t3 follow-up, re-injecting the lesion in the case of no or partial response. We treated 49 lesions: 38.8% showed improvements at t1; 46.9% at t2; 6% at t3; and 8.3% showed no clinical and ultrasound improvements. Long-term follow-up data confirmed a statistically significant reduction in Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)-pain, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and HS-Physician Global Assessment (HS-PGA), as well as edema and vascular signals. No adverse effects were reported. Our study suggests that ultrasound-injections with a 1:2 dilution are beneficial for HS flares that do not respond to topical treatment and should be included in the therapeutic algorithm.

Clinical and Power-Doppler ultrasound features related with persistence of fistulous tracts under treatment with adalimumab in hidradenitis suppurativa: 4 years of follow-up.

Fistulous tracts are the hallmark lesions of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and respond poorly to the currently available medical treatments. To evaluate the clinical and ultrasound features related with both healing and persistence of fistulous tracts in patients under treatment with adalimumab, a retrospective analysis of power-Doppler ultrasound (PD-US) images with fistulas in HS patients was performed. The clinical and sonographic staging of HS, body areas involved, and anatomic characteristics of the fistulous tracts were registered and graded. Chi-square test, univariate/multivariate Cox-regression analysis with clustered error, and Kaplan-Meier analysis were computed to analyze data. In total, 151 fistulous tracts from 33 HS patients were included. Age, BMI, length, thickness, subcutaneous pattern, high intensity of PD-US signal, and a high grade of fibrosis/edema were all related to a lower possibility of healing and a high risk of longer persistence at binomial Cox-regressions. Whereas, multivariate regressions showed that high fibrosis, was the variable with the highest risk of poor response and longer survival. Survival-analysis showed that fistulas with high fibrosis or PD-US signal have longer survival time than those with absent/low fibrosis or signal. Limitations include the impossibility to detect with ultrasound lesions less than 0.1 mm and smaller sample size. In conclusion, an accurate assessment of fibrosis may be crucial to define better when a surgical approach-besides the medical treatment-could be required. PD-US may assess the decrease of vascularization in HS lesions and consequently the reduction of inflammation due to immunomodulatory therapies.

Vascularization and fibrosis are important ultrasonographic tools for assessing response to adalimumab in hidradenitis suppurativa: Prospective study of 32 patients.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a debilitating skin disease presenting with nodules, abscesses, and fistulae preferentially in the main folds. Adalimumab is the only licensed biologic for moderate-to-severe HS. Ultrasound demonstrated good sensitivity to provide anatomic and functional information in HS; in particular assessing vascularization, related to inflammation, and fibrosis in HS lesions before and after adalimumab treatment with ultrasound and Color Doppler may integrate clinical evaluation with imaging. Patients with moderate-to-severe HS were enrolled in this observational prospective study. Clinical evaluation (according to Hurley classification and International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System score) and ultrasound (according to US HS-PGA)/Color Doppler were performed at baseline and after 12 weeks of adalimumab. Ultrasound was used for assessing fibrosis and Color Doppler for vascularization. For each patient, the three most severe lesions among abscesses and fistulae were chosen for total 96 lesions. Thirty-two patients were included, 18 men (56%) and 14 women (44%) with mean age 41.2. Mean IHS4 was 22.4 at baseline and dropped to 14.7 at week 12. Based on US HS-PGA, 14 out of 32 patients fell down by one or more classes of severity. Interestingly, adalimumab led to overall decrease in vascularization, particularly in lesions with intense vascular flow, which were 78 (81.3%) at baseline and became only 25 (26.04%). Finally, marked increase in fibrosis was seen after adalimumab, notably in lesions without fibrosis, which were 81 (84.4%) at baseline and became 15 (15.6%). This study confirms the efficacy of adalimumab in HS and provides value for vascularization and fibrosis as important ultrasonographic tools integrating clinical scores.

Sonographic Evaluation of Hidradenitis Suppurativa with Smartphone-Linked Portable Ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Clinical staging systems for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) have poor interrater reliability and may underestimate disease activity. Sonographic staging systems may overcome these challenges, but conventional ultrasound (US) machines are expensive and bulky. Portable (p)US may facilitate the integration of sonography into routine practice. OBJECTIVES: To assess the ability of a novel smartphone-linked pUS device to identify key sonographic lesions of HS. METHODS: The charts of 16 patients with HS who were assessed with pUS at the outpatient Dermatology and Wound Care Clinics of a university hospital center were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical and sonographic images of the affected areas were examined. The main outcome measures were the number of patients with identifiable sonographic lesions and the number of patients with subclinical lesions detected by pUS. RESULTS: All 3 key sonographic lesions of HS were identifiable with pUS. Sonographic lesions were identified in 10 patients (62.5%). Subclinical lesions were identified in 2 patients (12.5%); in both cases, this affected management decisions. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate the ability of pUS to identify the key sonographic lesions of HS. pUS is a simple and affordable way to integrate HSUS into clinical and research settings, with clear potential benefits to patients.

Real-Time Confocal Imaging for Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Description of Morphological Aspects and Focus on the Role of Follicular Ostia.

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory skin disease involving the follicular unit. Growing evidence suggests a crucial role of hyperkeratosis, infundibular plugging and perifolliculitis in its pathogenesis. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the microscopic morphology of open comedos using in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and define alterations occurring in HS normal-appearing perilesional skin compared to healthy skin of a control group, discussing therefore microscopic differences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients (11 males, 9 females; aged 19-51 years) affected by HS were recruited. RCM was performed on open comedos of axillary/inguinal regions and on normal-appearing skin areas distant at least 1.5 cm from HS lesions. Ten healthy individuals (6 males, 4 females) were included as control group. RESULTS: RCM aspects of 78 open comedos were explored, observing circular/ovoidal structures disclosing a hyperrefractive amorphous material (72/78, 92.3%) within the infundibular cavity surrounded with a bright (51/78, 65.4%) and regular (52/78, 66.2%) border. Follicular ostia of HS perilesional skin (n = 541) compared to follicular ostia of a control group (n = 321) were characterized by a larger infundibular diameter (183.4 vs. 85.8 µm) and diverged in terms of material collected inside infundibula (44.5 vs. 21%) and keratinization of the border (47.6 vs. 25.5%). CONCLUSION: In vivo characterization of open comedos and the recognition of microscopic subclinical alterations of HS normal-appearing skin, compared to healthy skin, could add further insights into the definition of biological events leading to HS manifestations, including the dysregulated process of keratinization.

Lymecycline vs. clindamycin plus rifampicin in hidradenitis suppurativa treatment: clinical and ultrasonography evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic therapy remains the first-line treatment for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). However, literature data on its comparative clinical efficacy and safety are limited. AIM: To investigate the efficacy of tetracycline (lymecycline 300 mg daily) vs. the combination therapy clindamycin and rifampicin (600 mg plus 600 mg daily) by evaluating and comparing the clinical response at the end of antibiotic treatment (10 weeks). METHODS: The study retrospectively analysed 52 patients divided in two groups of 26 patients: Group A received lymecycline and Group B received clindamycin plus rifampicin for 10 weeks. Subjects had mild, moderate and severe HS. The clinical and ultrasonography extent of disease was measured by the Hurley Score, Sonographic Score of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4), pain visual analogue scale (pain VAS) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). The primary outcome was the clinical response at the end of the antibiotic treatment period, according to the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response measure. RESULTS: Both groups showed a significant improvement in IHS4, pain VAS and DLQI from baseline, but this was more marked in Group A. Reductions in nodule counts were similar between the two groups, whereas the number of abscesses and draining tunnels decreased more in Group B. Disease-free survival was similar between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Lymecycline monotherapy and clindamycin plus rifampicin combination are both effective treatments for patients with moderate-severe HS. Nodular-type HS seems to respond better to lymecycline, whereas the abscess/tunnel type seems to respond better to clindamycin plus rifampicin.

Ultrasound-guided de-roofing of epithelialised tunnels of hidradenitis suppurativa.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa is a chronic inflammatory disease manifesting in painful nodules, abscesses and malodorous draining tunnels with a pre-disposition to flexural regions of skin. Traditional surgical interventions include excision of clinically visible lesions and in severe cases - excision down to fascia of entire anatomical regions (axilla, groin) and repair with split-thickness grafting or skin substitutes. However, such techniques are plagued by long healing times (up to several months), extensive tissue loss and high recurrence rates given that a large proportion of disease is not clinically visible. Deroofing is a tissue-saving surgical technique, ideal for Hurley Stage 2 disease, which when combined with bedside pre-operative sonography can allow for the accurate identification and removal of occult dermal tunnels whilst minimising the risks of pain, infection, minimising healing times and can be safely conducted in the setting of immunomodulatory therapy.

Should We Scan Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients? A Systematic Review of Radiologic Findings.

OBJECTIVE: To bring awareness and close gaps between dermatologists and radiologists about the contribution of imaging techniques for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). DATA SOURCES: Investigators searched the PubMed database for articles on HS and radiology techniques. STUDY SELECTION: Databases were searched up to December 2018. The query retrieved 257 publications, of which 103 were unique; of these, 7 were inaccessible. From the remaining 96, 33 were irrelevant (did not discuss HS lesion features). After applying the inclusion criteria, 63 studies were relevant to this study. DATA EXTRACTION: A standardized form was constructed to extract data from eligible studies by two independent authors. DATA SYNTHESIS: Imaging techniques are significant and useful tools in HS management. Imaging should be carried out to evaluate disease severity, subclinical features, treatment success, and intraoperative patient assessment. Providers should consider nonconventional radiology techniques, which are underused in clinical management of HS. Further, dermatology and radiology require a shared terminology of disease features to better understand patient status. CONCLUSIONS: Publications on HS lesion imaging have increased over the years. Imaging techniques have proven useful for determining HS severity and treatment effectiveness, as well as intraoperative patient assessment. These authors strongly recommend the use of these techniques in routine clinical practice for patients with HS.

Clinical, microbiological, immunological and imaging characteristics of tunnels and fistulas in hidradenitis suppurativa and Crohn's disease.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) tunnels and Crohn's disease (CD) fistulas are a challenge to treat. Although pathogenic similarities have been described between HS and CD, recent studies indicate that clinical, microbiological, immunological and imaging characteristics differ between these diseases. This review highlights the differences between HS tunnels and CD fistulas. Next-generation sequencing studies demonstrate a microbiome in HS tunnels dominated by Porphyromonas spp., Prevotella spp. whereas no specific bacteria have been associated with cutaneous CD. Immunologically, TNF has been found upregulated in HS tunnels along with various interleukins (IL-8, IL-16, IL-1α and IL-1ß). In CD fistulas, Th1, Th17, IL-17, IFN-ɤ, TNF and IL-23 are increased. US imaging is an important tool in HS. US of HS tunnels depict hypoechoic band-like structure across skin layers in the dermis and/or hypodermis connected to the base of a widened hair follicle. In CD, MR imaging of simple perianal fistulas illustrates a linear, non-branching inflammatory tract relating to an internal opening in the anus or low rectum and an external opening to the skin surface. An increased awareness of the immediate potential differences between HS tunnels and CD fistulas may optimize treatment regimens of these intractable skin manifestations.

Intralesional ultrasound-guided combined treatment with triamcinolone plus lincomycin in hidradenitis suppurativa: A pilot study.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflammatory, disease of the hair follicle. Intralesional corticosteroid treatment in HS patients has been reported, and while several data described this route of administration as an efficient delivery system, its efficacy is still debated. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical efficacy and the effect on quality of life (QoL) of an innovative intralesional treatment in HS patients. This was an interventional prospective study. The treatment consisted of two intralesional ultrasound-guided injections of triamcinolone plus lincomycin, at baseline and after 2 weeks. Lesions and QoL were evaluated at baseline and at 4 weeks following intralesional therapy. All clinical variables of 36 HS patients significantly improved after 4 weeks. Mean values of the visual analog scale (VAS) pain decreased from 4.6 to 1.5, P = .027. The Bodily Pain (BP) scale of the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) significantly improved from 36.2 at baseline to 53.9 at 4-week follow-up (P < .001). On a scale from 0 to 10, over 90% of the patients gave a satisfaction score of 8 or more. This combination of corticosteroids and antibiotics delivered intralesionally seems to be effective, as it improved both patient- and physician-reported outcomes.