title: Periodontitis and arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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?
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with periodontitis appear to have higher values of PWV compared to controls. The effect of periodontal treatment on arterial stiffness remains unclear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Service of Odontology, Rothschild Hospital, AP-HP, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, U.F.R. of Odontology, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Service of Odontology, Rothschild Hospital, AP-HP, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, U.F.R. of Odontology, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Maria Clotilde
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, AP-HP, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.|INSERM U970, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boutouyrie
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Service of Odontology, Rothschild Hospital, AP-HP, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot, U.F.R. of Odontology, Paris, France.|EA 2496, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bouchard
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D006801:Humans; D010518:Periodontitis; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
keywords: arterial stiffness; periodontitis; pulse wave velocity; systematic review