Investigators have identified a potential association between hidradenitis suppurativa and Crohn’s disease in pediatric patients, according to a new study published by Mastacouris et al in JAMA Dermatology. The investigators used the IBM Explorys database to examine the electronic health records of 2,883 patients aged 12 to 17 years who had hidradenitis suppurativa and 222,186 age-similar controls without the disease. They found that compared with controls, patients with hidradenitis suppurativa demonstrated Crohn’s disease prevalence rates of 0.69% vs 0.17% (unadjusted prevalence ratio = 4.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.63–6.44). After adjusting for covariates—including age, sex, race and ethnicity, body mass index, history of smoking, Medicaid insurance status, and number of health-care encounters—investigators calculated that pediatric patients were 4.9 times more likely to have Crohn’s disease if they had hidradenitis suppurativa than those without the disease. Further, when the investigators only included patients aged 15 to 17 years in their analysis, they found that prevalence rates of Crohn’s disease increased to 0.20% for controls and 0.73% for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (unadjusted prevalence ratio = 3.61, 95% CI = 2.25–5.81). The investigators concluded that although present, the association between hidradenitis suppurativa and Crohn’s disease in pediatric patients may be minimal.
June 22, 2023