Periodontal findings in Cohen syndrome with chronic neutropenia

Radiographic periodontal status and microbiological findings of periodontal pockets in subjects with Cohen syndrome are presented in this report. This hereditary disorder causes mental retardation, and neutropenia is one feature of the syndrome. Fifteen patients with Cohen syndrome and 15 controls matched for age and sex and, as far as possible, according to the degree of mental retardation were examined. Alveolar bone loss was evaluated from the panoramic radiographs. Two subgingival samples were obtained from the most affected anterior and posterior periodontal sites in each dentate subject and examined for the occurrence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia/nigrescens, Peptostreptococcus micros, Bacteroides forsythus, and Campylobacter rectus. Subjects with Cohen syndrome had alveolar bone loss more frequently and the bone loss was more extensive (Mann-Whitney U-test: P < 0.05) than in the controls. They also harbored one or several of the putative periodontal pathogens (Mann-Whitney U-test: P < 0.001) more often than the controls. We conclude that subjects with Cohen syndrome have increased susceptibility to early periodontal breakdown which is likely to be associated with neutropenia.