CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH PERIODONTITIS.

Puhar, Ivan; Vražić, Domagoj; Badovinac, Ana; Božić, Darko; Plančak, Darije; Lovrenčić-Huzjan, Arijana

Periodontitis is well established risk factor for the development of atherosclerotic lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between periodontal status and arterial morphological and functional alterations, compared to the periodontally healthy subjects. The study included 37 patients with chronic periodontitis, 30 patients with aggressive periodontitis (test groups), and 61 volunteers with healthy periodontium (control group). Periodontal condition was assessed in terms of clinical attachment level with a periodontal probe. Measurements on common carotid artery were performed using Aloka ProSound ALPHA 10 with 13 MHz linear probe. In comparison with the control group, chronic periodontitis group showed statistically significant difference in the mean intima-media thickness values (p=0,016). Aggressive periodontitis group did not show any statistical significance for intima-media thickness values, but had significantly different elastic properties of carotid arteries when compared with the control group (p=0,011). Our results show that inflammatory periodontal disease can affect arterial structural and functional properties. Further investigation with a larger patient sample is required to more accurately assess the arterial stiffness in patients with periodontitis.

ATHEROSCLEROSIS; PERIODONTITIS; PERIODONTIUM; CAROTID artery; PERIODONTICS; ARTERIOSCLEROSIS; PATIENTS

Acta Stomatologica Croatica, 2013, Vol 47, Issue 2, p182

0001-7019

Academic Journal