Gallstones are associated with hidradenitis suppurativa: a population-based and hospital-based cross-sectional study from Denmark

BACKGROUNDHidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatological disease that was recently linked to the metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS has been associated with gallstones, and nonalcoholic fatty liver has been suggested to be the hepatic expression of MetS. OBJECTIVEThe objective of the study was to investigate whether there was an association of HS with gallstones as well as with hepatic dysfunction. PATIENTS AND METHODSThis was a cross-sectional study comparing a hospital-based HS group, a population-based HS group, and controls for self-reported gallstone and blood sample verified hepatic dysfunction. Blood samples were analyzed for alanine transaminase, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, thrombocytes, and the international normalized ratio. RESULTSA total of 32 hospital HS patients, 430 population-based HS patients, and 20 780 non-HS controls were identified. The age–sex–smoking-adjusted analysis of gallstones revealed a significant OR of 1.72 (95% CI 1.23–2.42, P=0.0191) and a borderline significant OR of 3.28 (95% CI 1.24–8.74, P=0.0516) for the population HS group and hospital HS group versus controls, respectively. Furthermore, no clinically significant evidence was found with regard to hepatic dysfunction. CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrates an association of HS with gallstones, but not with hepatic dysfunction. The association with gallstones may be partly explained by the comorbidity of hypertriglyceridemia and obesity as a part of MetS.