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Periodontitis and arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Audrey Schmitt1, Maria Clotilde Carra1, Pierre Boutouyrie2,3
1Department of Periodontology, Service of Odontology, Rothschild Hospital, AP-HP, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, U.F.R. of Odontology, Paris, France.
Introduction And Aims:
Patients with periodontitis have a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, although a causal relationship between these conditions remains unclear. Arterial stiffness is considered a marker of arteriosclerosis and a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. A systematic review of the literature on clinical studies using pulse wave velocity (PWV) to assess arterial stiffness in patients with periodontitis was carried out to answer the following questions: (i) Do patients with periodontitis have impaired arterial stiffness compared to non-periodontal diseased subjects? (ii) Is periodontal treatment effective as a means to improve arterial stiffness in patients with periodontitis?
Literature Review:
Literature search was done on different databases up to September 2014. All clinical studies (excluding case reports) using PWV in patients with periodontitis were retrieved for a full-text evaluation. A total of 10 studies were included. Patients with periodontitis have increased arterial stiffness compared to controls (PWV mean difference 0.85 m/s; 95% confidence interval: 0.53-1.16; p<0.00001). The only two interventional studies showed contradictory results on the effects of periodontal treatment on PWV.
Conclusion:
Patients with periodontitis appear to have higher values of PWV compared to controls. The effect of periodontal treatment on arterial stiffness remains unclear.
