Elza Bernardes Ferreira

Prevalence of carotid artery calcifications detected on panoramic radiographs and confirmed by Doppler ultrasonography: Their relationship with systemic conditions

CONTEXT Atherosclerosis affects large and medium caliber arteries by forming calcific atheromas, precursors of cerebral vascular disease. Diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypertension are considered as risk factors of atherosclerosis. Panoramic radiographs can display images suggestive of carotid artery calcifications (CACs). AIMS To investigate the prevalence of images suggestive of CAC in panoramic radiographs of the jaws (PRJs) and confirm them by Doppler ultrasonography. To evaluate their anatomic locations and relationships between systemic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, and obesity) and the presence of unilateral or bilateral CAC detected on PRJ or by Doppler ultrasonography. MATERIALS AND METHODS Of the 723 routinely performed PRJ in patients over 40 years at the Radiology Center in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, 21 PRJ containing images suggestive of CAC were selected in this cross-sectional study. The findings from the PRJ were confirmed by Doppler sonography. RESULTS Images suggestive of CAC was detected in 21 (2.9%) of the PRJ evaluated, consisting of 11 (52.4%) hypertensive, 7 (33.3%) diabetics, and 9 (42.9%) obese. There was a higher prevalence of hypertensive patients in the unilateral CAC group (100%) and bilateral CAC (60%) compared to patients without CAC (25%). CONCLUSIONS CACs can be detected in PRJs, and are more frequent in common carotid arteries. No significant associations were detected between the presence of unilateral or bilateral CAC in PRJ and hypertension, diabetes, or obesity.

The influence of hormone replacement therapy on the salivary flow of post-menopausal women.

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of hormone therapy on salivary flow in menopausal women. It is a case–control study involving 86 post-menopausal women. The case group consisted of 47 women undergoing estroprogestative or estrogen hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and the control group consisted of 39 women who did not receive any HRT. All patients were submitted to a standard questionnaire, followed by total stimulated sialometry and determination of body mass index (BMI). The salivary flow was classified as follows: normal (1.0–3.0 mL/min), low (0.7–1.0 mL/min), and hyposalivation (<0.7 mL/min). The results were analyzed statistically by the chi-square test, logistic regression model, and linear regression (p < 0.05). The HRT group presented an association of protection, even after adjusting the analysis, for low salivary flow (Adjusted OR = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.05–0.88; p = 0.034), and hyposalivation (Adjusted OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.10–0.92; p = 0.036). The results suggest that estroprogestative therapy (β = + 0.53; p = 0.022) has greater influence on the increase of salivary flow than estrogen therapy (β = +0.35; p = 0.137). The study concludes stating salivary flow was influenced by HRT on the post-menopausal women studied.