Maternal HS Tied to Adverse Outcomes in Children and Mothers

TOPLINE:

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in pregnant women is associated with increased risks for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, and severe maternal morbidity, as well as higher neonatal risks such as preterm birth and birth defects.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a population-based longitudinal cohort study in Quebec, Canada, from 2006 to 2022, which included 1,324,488 deliveries. Of these, 1332 (0.1%) were born to mothers with HS.
• They evaluated maternal pregnancy outcomes, neonatal outcomes at birth, and long-term maternal and child outcomes (up to 16 years).
• A higher proportion of mothers with HS were younger than 25 years (23.6% vs 14.8%), had a comorbidity at the time of pregnancy (22.4% vs 7.4%), and were socioeconomically disadvantaged (29.4% vs 20.3%) compared with those who did not have HS (P 

TAKEAWAY:

• After adjusting for covariates, mothers with HS had higher risks for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (risk ratio [RR], 1.55; 95% CI, 1.29-1.87), gestational diabetes (RR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.40-1.85), and severe maternal morbidity (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.03-1.84), cesarean delivery (RR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.30), postpartum hemorrhage (RR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.27-1.76), peripartum sepsis (RR, 2.71; 95% CI, 1.30-5.67), and intensive care unit admission (RR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.64-4.25).
• Maternal HS was also associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, which included higher risks for preterm birth (RR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.07-1.53), birth defects (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07-1.56), congenital heart defects (RR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.01-2.43), and orofacial clefts (RR, 4.27; 95% CI, 1.84-9.92).
• Long-term risks for hospitalization were 2.29 times higher for mothers (95% CI, 2.07-2.55) with increased risks for cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic hospitalizations.
• Children born to mothers with HS showed a 31% higher risk for hospitalizations long-term (95% CI, 1.18-1.45), including respiratory, metabolic, developmental, and gastrointestinal-related hospitalizations.

IN PRACTICE:

The results of the study “suggested that maternal HS was associated with an elevated risk of pregnancy complications and adverse outcomes in mothers and offspring in the peripartum period and later in life,” the authors wrote. “Given the rate of adverse outcomes,” they added, “clinicians should consider monitoring pregnant patients with HS more closely and following offspring over time to improve outcomes.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Kaiyang Li, BSc, McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was published online on October 16 in JAMA Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The data may be subject to non-differential misclassification or random coding errors. The study may have missed undocumented or mild cases of HS, which could limit generalizability. The study also lacked data on genetic variants, phenotypes, disease onset, severity, and medications used.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors received nonfinancial support, payments, honoraria, or grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, L’Oréal, and pharmaceutical companies outside this work. One author also received a career award from Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé during this work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.