Demographics & Characteristics Associated With HS Diagnoses

Sherry Yang, MD, FAAD, is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her dermatology residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, where she served as chief resident during her last year of training. She started her career in academic medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in 2015 and is currently the Associate Residency Program Director and Director of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Specialty Clinic.

Dr Yang led a session on Hidradenitis Suppurativa on day 2 of the SDPA 2021 Annual Fall Dermatology Conference.

In this video, Dr Sherry Yang discusses patient demographics and characteristics that are associated with HS diagnoses.

Transcript
Dr Yang:  Patients are not diagnosed until very late in their disease course. I think educating our other physician colleagues in emergency medicine, gynecology, and surgery is very important in spreading disease awareness. That's one thing that the general dermatology provider can do to help patients in the long run.

The majority of patients present with hidradenitis in early adulthood, although many will recall having boils or ingrown hairs going back to even teenagehood. I've also seen new HS occur in women who are postmenopausal, which I think is due to a relative imbalance between estrogen and testosterone resulting in a more androgen-driven state.

Other associated characteristics to consider are female gender, African American ethnicity, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. The patient may also have a history of other follicular occlusion disorders, such as nodulocystic acne, dissecting cellulitis at the scalp, and pilonidal cysts.