Association between Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Inflammatory Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND

Several studies report a high prevalence of inflammatory arthritis among hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients.

OBJECTIVES

To study the association between HS and inflammatory arthritis.

METHODS

The systematic review and meta-analysis were performed according to the PRISMA guidelines to identify the association between HS and inflammatory arthritis, spondyloarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

RESULTS

Seven studies were entered in the analysis, with 200,361 HS patients and 385,599 controls. Pooled analysis illustrated a significantly increased risk of inflammatory arthritis in HS patients compared to controls (odds ratio [OR] 3.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.92-6.17). There was also a statistically significant association between HS and spondyloarthritis (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.40-3.15), and between HS and AS (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.14-3.12). Moreover, pooled analysis showed a statistically significant association between HS and RA (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.28-2.98).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that HS patients have a 3-fold increased risk of developing inflammatory arthritis. HS patients are specifically at a higher risk for spondyloarthritis, its subtype AS, and RA.