Meta-Analysis: HS Linked with Elevated Cardiovascular Risk

Key Takeaways

• A new systematic review and meta-analysis showed hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
• Hypertension was the most common cardiovascular comorbidity among patients with HS (affecting about one-quarter of patients).
• Evidence quality was rated low due to observational study design, heterogeneity, and inconsistent confounder adjustment.

Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) may face an increased burden of cardiovascular disease, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis in the British Journal of Dermatology. 

Study authors included 25 studies in the analysis, comprosing a sample of 373,689 individuals with clinician-diagnosed HS. They searched CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus through June 16, 2025, assessing prevalence estimates within HS populations and comparative cardiovascular risk versus individuals without HS.

According to the data, hypertension was the most commonly reported cardiovascular comorbidity, affecting approximately one-quarter of patients with HS. Coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure, and myocardial infarction were among the other more commonly reported comorbitities. 

HS was associated with elevated risk for several cardiovascular outcomes across pooled analyses, with relative risks generally ranging from 1.3- to 1.8-fold for ischemic or coronary heart disease, composite cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, venous thromboembolism, and all-cause mortality. 

The authors noted that the certainty of evidence was low overall, reflecting the observational nature of included studies and variability in adjustment for confounding variables. Differences in cardiovascular outcome definitions and study methodology also contributed to heterogeneity.

“HS is associated with a substantial burden of cardiovascular comorbidities and increased risk of several major cardiovascular outcomes,” the authors concluded. “These findings support consideration of cardiovascular risk assessment in the clinical management of HS while highlighting the need for prospective studies with standardized cardiovascular outcome definitions and more consistent adjustment for key confounders.”

Source

Mense SA, Hopkins T, Chovatiya R. Cardiovascular Comorbidities and Risk in Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. British Journal of Dermatology. 2026. Doi:10.1093/bjd/ljag182 https://academic.oup.com/bjd/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/bjd/ljag182/8675971