KAUAI, HAWAII – Medical therapy alone is never sufficient in Hurley stage III hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), Iltefat H. Hamzavi, MD, observed at the Hawaii Dermatology Seminar provided by the Global Academy for Medical Education/Skin Disease Education Foundation.
“Even with the advances in biologics and antibiotic therapy, you still have to excise once you’re in full-blown Hurley stage III disease. Surgery has to be part of your protocol,” according to Dr. Hamzavi, a dermatologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, which runs one of the nation’s largest hidradenitis suppurativa clinics, with roughly 1,600 patients.
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“Of course we’re biased. But until the data can set us free, you’re stuck with me,” the dermatologist quipped.
A core principle of the Henry Ford algorithm is this: “Medical therapy [for patients with advanced HS] stabilizes them and reduces their draining and pain, then you try to bring them back to a lower stage with surgical options,” he explained.
Although other HS staging systems exist, Dr. Hamzavi and his colleagues rely on the Hurley staging system to guide their treatment. Basically, Hurley stage I consists of follicular nodules and abscesses. When the nodules connect to form sinus tracts with scarring, that’s stage II. And if the sinus tracts interconnect throughout an entire area, that’s stage III.