Detección de placas de ateroma mediante radiografías dentales

introduction: stroke is the third leading cause of death in the united states and almost the half of deaths in spain. one of the possible causes of stroke is the formation of atheroma plaques in the carotid bifurcation. eventually, these plaques calcify and can be detected by chance on panoramic and lateral cephalometric radiographs. material and methods: the panoramic radiographs of 1,300 patients of the dental school of the university of oviedo, spain, were evaluated. for our study, only patients over the age of 40 were analized, resulting in a final population of 459 patients (194 men and 265 women). in the cases in which a lesion was suspected, the dental history of the patients was studied in order to determine the presence of risk factors related with atherosclerosis: tobacco, alcohol, prior stroke or ischemic attacks, hypertension. results: 13 individuals (2,83% of the final study population), (53,84% men and 46,15% women) had radiopacities in the panoramic radiographs which were classified as atheroma plaques. those lesions were measured in a greyscale and the results were very similar to those obtained in the retromolar alveolar bone. 30,76% of the positive cases, showed bilateral radiopacities, and 69,23% unilateral ones. conclusion: dentists must pay special attention to the possible detection of atheroma plaques on panoramic and lateral cephalometric radiographs, specially in those patiens with high risk of stroke.