title: Panoramic radiograph as a method for detecting calcified atheroma plaques. Review of literature.
abstract: Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is the third cause of death in industrialized countries, following cardiovascular disease and cancer. It is therefore a significant public health issue, not only due to its high incidence, but also to the high costs involved in the physical and psychological rehabilitation of these patients. Dental Practitioners, as health care providers, ought to play their part in this issue and contribute, within their means, to the early detection of patients at risk of having a CVA. Since the eighties, different authors have described the possibility of detecting calcified atheroma plaques located at carotid artery bifurcation through panoramic radiograph. In this way, the Dental Practitioner s possibilities in this field have been extended. However, this new use of panoramic radiograph must overcome certain obstacles before it is implemented as a new screening method for patients at risk of having a CVA. Amongst these, we would have, on the one hand, the assessment of the real clinical significance, as regards prognosis, of atheroma plaque calcification as well as its usefulness as a factor for predicting the appearance of CVA symptoms and, on the other hand, the possibility of making a correct differential diagnosis regarding other calcified structures that may appear on panoramic radiograph.
authors.affiliation: Odontología en Pacientes Especiales, Clínica Odontológica Universitaria, Murcia.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roldán-Chicano
authors.forename: Ricardo E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Oñate-Sánchez
authors.forename: Fuensanta
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: López-Castaño
authors.forename: Maria Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Cabrerizo-Merino
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martínez-López
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control