Methods: A retrospective analysis involving records of patients diagnosed with HS in Hospital Kuala Lumpur from July 2009 to June 2016.
Results: Sixty-two patients were identified, with equal cases involving males and females. Majority of patients were Malays (41.9%), followed by Indians (35.5%), Chinese (17.7%), and other ethnicities (4.8%). Median age at diagnosis was 25 (IQR: 14) years. There is a delay in diagnosis with a median of 24 (IQR: 52) months. Most of the patients had lesions on the axilla (85.5%), followed by groin (33.9%) and gluteal region (29%). Gluteal lesions were more common in males. Nodules (67.7%), sinuses (56.5%), and abscesses (33.9%) were the main clinical features, with 43.5% classified under Hurley stage 2. There was no difference in terms of symptoms and types of lesions among different ethnicities and genders. Majority received systemic antibiotics, more than half had retinoid, and third of the patients had surgical intervention.
Conclusions: A prompt recognition of HS is imperative, to screen for comorbidities and to initiate early treatment to reduce physical and psychological complications.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted using data from the Malaysian Psoriasis Registry from 2007 to 2011. Specific risk factors, i.e., age, age of onset, gender, duration of disease, obesity group, body surface area, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), family history of psoriasis, nail involvement, psoriatic arthritis, phototherapy, systemic therapy, clinic visit, days of work/school, and hospital admission due to psoriasis in the last 6 months were analyzed.
RESULTS: A total of 48.4% of patients had facial psoriasis. Variables significantly associated with facial psoriasis are younger age, younger age of onset of psoriasis of ≤ 40 years, male, severity of psoriasis involving >10% of the body surface area, higher DLQI of >10, nail involvement, and history of hospitalization due to psoriasis.
CONCLUSION: This study found that facial psoriasis is not as rare as previously thought. Ambient ultraviolet light, sebum, and contact with chemicals from facial products may reduce the severity of facial psoriasis, but these factors do not reduce the prevalence of facial psoriasis. The association with younger age, younger age of onset, higher percentage of body surface area involvement, higher DLQI of > 10, nail involvement, and hospitalization due to psoriasis support the notion that facial psoriasis is a marker of severe disease.