Impacto del edentulismo en la calidad de vida de individuos brasileños / Impact of the edentulism in the quality

Estimar la prevalencia del edentulismo total versus parcial y el impacto que esta condición produce en la calidad de vida. Método: La muestra fue compuesta por 182 pacientes, de ambos sexos, con edad a partir de 18 años, que vivían en la ciudad de Recife, inscritos para tratamiento en la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE. Esta investigación se realizó entre julio y septiembre de 2010. El edentulismo fue identificado a través del examen de inspección clínica y el impacto por medio del OHIP-14, el cual se compone por cinco dimensiones obtenidas después de la aplicación de un cuestionario estructurado. En la muestra analizada se verificó que 88,1% eran desdentados parciales; el grupo etario con mayor porcentaje fue de 31 a 50 años; 70,8% pertenecían al sexo femenino; 48,0% eran casados; 45,0% tenían el segundo grado completo; y 59,9% notificaron ingreso mensual superior a un salario mínimo. Resultados: En relación al impacto en la calidad de vida en las dimensiones mensuradas por el OHIP-14, los mayores porcentajes relatados por los individuos fueron: 67,8% dolor físico; 56,9% incómodo psicológico; y 61,9% limitación psicológica. Conclusión: En la presente pesquisa, el OHIP-14 mostró que los mayores problemas relatados por los individuos que perdieron sus dientes fueron de naturaleza funcional y social, como por ejemplo, incómodo para comer y el sentimiento de vergüenza, causando fuerte impacto en la calidad de vida, y aunque la prevalencia haya sido mayor para el edentulismo parcial, los impactos fueron mayores para los desdentados totales

Occurrence of periodontal pathogens among patients with chronic periodontitis

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of the periodontal pathogens that form the red complex (Tannerella forsythia, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola) and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in patients with chronic periodontitis. The sample consisted of 29 patients with a clinical and radiographic diagnosis of chronic periodontitis based on the criteria of the American Academy of Periodontology (3). Samples for microbiological analysis were collected from the four sites of greatest probing depth in each patient, totaling 116 samples. These samples were processed using conventional polymerase chain reaction, which achieved the following positive results: 46.6% for P. gingivalis, 41.4% for T. forsythia, 33.6% for T. denticola and 27.6% for A. actinomycetemcomitans. P. gingivalis and T. forsythia were more prevalent (p < 0.05) in periodontal pockets ≥ 8 mm. The combinations T. forsythia + P. gingivalis (23.2%) and T. forsythia + P. gingivalis + T. denticola (20.0%) were more frequent in sites with a probing depth ≥ 8 mm. Associations with the simultaneous presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans + P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans + T. forsythia, P. gingivalis + T. forsythia and T. forsythia + T. denticola were statistically significant (p < 0.05). It was concluded that the red complex pathogens are related to chronic periodontitis, presenting a higher occurrence in deep periodontal pockets. Moreover, the simultaneous presence of these bacteria in deep sites suggests a symbiotic relationship between these virulent species, favoring, in this way, a further progression of periodontal disease.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and HCV genotypes of hemodialysis patients in Salvador, Northeastern Brazil

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been identified as the major cause of chronic liver disease among patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD), despite the important reduction in risks obtained by testing candidate blood donors for anti-HCV antibodies and the use of recombinant erythropoietin to treat anemia. A cross-sectional study was performed to estimate the prevalence of HCV infection and genotypes among HD patients in Salvador, Northeastern Brazil. Anti-HCV seroprevalence was determined by ELISA in 1243 HD patients from all ten different dialysis centers of the city. HCV infection was confirmed by RT-PCR and genotyping was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Anti-HCV seroprevalence among HD patients was 10.5 percent (95 percent CI: 8.8-12.3) (Murex anti-HCV, Abbott Murex, Chicago, IL, USA). Blood samples for qualitative HCV detection and genotyping were collected from 125/130 seropositive HD patients (96.2 percent). HCV-RNA was detected in 92/125 (73.6 percent) of the anti-HCV-positive patients. HCV genotype 1 (77.9 percent) was the most prevalent, followed by genotype 3 (10.5 percent) and genotype 2 (4.6 percent). Mixed infections of genotypes 1 and 3 were found in 7.0 percent of the total number of patients. The present results indicate a significant decrease in anti-HCV prevalence from 23.8 percent detected in a study carried out in 1994 to 10.5 percent in the present study. The HCV genotype distribution was closely similar to that observed in other hemodialysis populations in Brazil, in local candidate blood donors and in other groups at risk of transfusion-transmitted infection.