Ana Lúcia Tolazzi

Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients. Material and Methods A clinical study was carried out on 145 subjects (48 males; 97 females; aged 20 to 90 years). Each subject was clinically examined, in the morning and in the afternoon, along 1 day. A focused anamnesis allowed identifying symptoms of hyposalivation, like xerostomia complaints (considered as a reference symptom), chewing difficulty, dysphagia and increased frequency of liquid intake. Afterwards, dryness of the mucosa of the cheecks and floor of the mouth, as well as salivary secretion during parotid gland stimulation were assessed during oral examination. Results Results obtained with Chi-square tests showed that 71 patients (48.9%) presented xerostomia complaints, with a significant correlation with all hyposalivation symptoms (p<0.05). Furthermore, xerostomia was also significantly correlated with all data obtained during oral examination in both periods of evaluation (p<0.05). Conclusion Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients is feasible and can provide an immediate and appropriate therapy avoiding further problems and improving their quality of life.

Spontaneous Resolution of a Central Giant-Cell Granuloma After Incisional Biopsy: A Case Report

[Couto Souza, Paulo H.] Pontificia Univ Catolica Parana, Curso Odontol, Ctr Ciencias Biol & Saude, Sch Dent, BR-80215901 Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. [Jacobs, Reinhilde; Corpas, Livia S.] Catholic Univ Leuven, Fac Med, Oral Imaging Ctr, Louvain, Belgium. [Lambrichts, Ivo] Univ Hasselt, Dept Basic Med Sci, Fac Med, Hasselt, Belgium.