Relationship Between Periodontal Disease and Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: Conventional risk factors for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction do not explain all of the clinical and epidemiological features of the disease. Periodontal disease is a common bacterial and destructive disorder of oral tissues. Many studies demonstrate close association between chronic periodontitis and development of generalized inflammation, vascular endothelial injury, and atherosclesis. Periodontal disease has been convincingly emerging as an important independent risk factor for ischemic heart disease. A case - control study was carried out to assess the prevalence of periodontitis in patients with Acute myocardial Infarction (AMI) and evaluate the possible relationship between AMI and chronic periodontitis. Patients and Methods: A number of 160 patients, aged 35 to 70 years old, enrolled in the study. Eighty patients (43 men, 37 women) were examined four days after hospitalization due to AMI. Control group consisted of 80 persons (38 men, 42 women) with normal coronary angiography. The following periodontal parameters were examined: Plaque index (PI), gingiral index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL) and number of sites with CAL. Results: The case, compared to control showed significantly worse results for some periodontal variables studied: The mean of PD and PD > 3 mm, CAL, and number of sites with CAL, had worse results compared to control despite similar oral hygiene and frequency of brushing. The confounding factors for the present study were found to be hypertension and diabetes. Conclusion: The association between periodontitis and acute myocardial infarction was significant after adjusting for conventional risk factors for AMI.