Prepubertal hidradenitis suppurativa: two case reports and review of the literature.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic suppurative scarring disease of apocrine sweat gland-bearing skin in the axillary, anogenital, and, rarely, the breast and scalp regions. Females are more commonly affected than males and it is usually seen at puberty or later. We report two girls with prepubertal hidradenitis suppurativa whose initial presentation predated any signs of puberty. This early onset is very rare and its etiology remains unknown. Severe disease can be seen in prepubertal children and surgical intervention is effective in these cases.