Alessandra Michelucci, Giammarco Granieri, Bianca Cei, Flavia Manzo Margiotta, Agata Janowska, Teresa Oranges, Marco Romanelli, Valentina Dini
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting hair follicles, causing recurrent abscesses and nodules in intertriginous regions. The International HS Severity Score System (IHS4) is widely used to assess HS severity by counting inflammatory nodules, abscesses, and draining fistulas/tunnels. However, traditional clinical examinations may underestimate HS severity due to the presence of subclinical lesions. This study aims to enhance the accuracy of HS severity assessment by incorporating ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) to detect subclinical lesions, such as microtunnels.
Methods: A cohort of 122 patients with HS (75 females and 47 males) was evaluated. Clinical severity was assessed using the IHS4 scoring system. UHFUS assessments were performed using a 70 MHz probe for patients with mild and moderate IHS4 scores. Statistical tools were used to assess the significance of UHFUS in detecting additional lesions not identified during clinical examinations.
Results: The study found that 23% of patients had mild HS, 58.2% had moderate HS, and 18.9% had severe HS according to IHS4. Among the 28 patients with mild IHS4, 14 had microtunnels detected by UHFUS, leading to a change in disease staging: 11.5% of patients were reclassified as mild, while 69.7% were reclassified as moderate. A statistically significant difference in the distribution of severity classifications before and after UHFUS examination was observed (χ2 = 5.11, P = .0238).
Conclusion: The study underscores the critical role of UHFUS as a non-invasive technique for the precise assessment of HS. The integration of UHFUS with a 70 MHz probe significantly enhances the detection of subclinical lesions, such as microtunnels, enabling timely intervention and potentially preventing disease progression. Despite the study's limitations, including its monocentric design and small sample size, the findings support the use of UHFUS in improving the accuracy of HS severity assessment.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (JUM) is dedicated to the rapid, accurate publication of original articles dealing with all aspects of medical ultrasound, particularly its direct application to patient care but also relevant basic science, advances in instrumentation, and biological effects. The journal is an official publication of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and publishes articles in a variety of categories, including Original Research papers, Review Articles, Pictorial Essays, Technical Innovations, Case Series, Letters to the Editor, and more, from an international bevy of countries in a continual effort to showcase and promote advances in the ultrasound community.
Represented through these efforts are a wide variety of disciplines of ultrasound, including, but not limited to:
-Basic Science-
Breast Ultrasound-
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound-
Dermatology-
Echocardiography-
Elastography-
Emergency Medicine-
Fetal Echocardiography-
Gastrointestinal Ultrasound-
General and Abdominal Ultrasound-
Genitourinary Ultrasound-
Gynecologic Ultrasound-
Head and Neck Ultrasound-
High Frequency Clinical and Preclinical Imaging-
Interventional-Intraoperative Ultrasound-
Musculoskeletal Ultrasound-
Neurosonology-
Obstetric Ultrasound-
Ophthalmologic Ultrasound-
Pediatric Ultrasound-
Point-of-Care Ultrasound-
Public Policy-
Superficial Structures-
Therapeutic Ultrasound-
Ultrasound Education-
Ultrasound in Global Health-
Urologic Ultrasound-
Vascular Ultrasound