title: Septic pulmonary emboli due to periodontal disease.
abstract: Septic pulmonary embolization (SPE) is a rare but serious disorder. It is a well-recognized potential problem in the settings of tricuspid valve endocarditis, septic thrombophlebitis, infected central venous catheters, and postanginal septicemia. Less well documented is the occurrence of SPE in patients with periodontal disease without suppurative thrombophlebitis of the great vessels of the neck. We report a patient with SPE in whom periodontal disease was the only identifiable nidus of infection and review the literature regarding the four other patients reported to have suffered this complication.
authors.affiliation: The Veterans Affairs Medical Center 111-B, P.O. Box 4000, Mountain Home, TN 37684-4000, and Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Costy S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Mattar
authors.forename: Rob L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Keith
authors.forename: Ryland P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Byrd
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Roy
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000209:etiology*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed