DERMOSCOPIC PATTERN OF HIDRADENITIS SUPPURATIVA LESIONS

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflammatory, recurrent skin disease of the hair follicle, usually presenting after puberty with painful, deep-seated, inflamed lesions in the apocrine gland-bearing areas. The aim of the study was to identify dermoscopic features of HS nodules and to define whether these are associated to patients’ clinical features. Clinical data and dermoscopic images of 30 patients with HS were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed from the Dermatology department of our institution. Dermoscopy enabled the identification of key vascular patterns and background coloration aspects characterizing inflammatory HS nodules. Significantly, the presence of a white-pinkish background was associated with lower disease severity, whereas darker background coloration, a sign of increased vascularization, may be indicative of more severe clinical presentation. These findings suggest that dermoscopic characterization of HS nodular inflammatory lesions may have important clinical consequences in the assessment of disease severity, therapeutic decisions and treatment efficacy monitoring.