[ evaluation on carotid artery calcification on panoramic radiographs of patients over 45 years referred to oral and maxillofacial radiology department of dental faculty of Sha heed Beheshti University [1381] [Research]]

ABSTRACT

Nowadays brain strokes are the third common cause of death following heart attacks and cancers. Due to the fact that in most cases the occurrence of stroke is associated with severe and long lasting complications, its prevention has been the focus of various investigations the diagnosis of carotid artery calcifications via panoramic radiography are reported to be advantageous. Thus, the present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of calcified carotid artery among over 45-year - old dental population referred to oral and maxillofacial radiology department of dental faculty Shahed Beheshti University in 1381. In this descriptive study, the data for each patient were recorded in a questionnaire using medical history and interview along with patient's examinations finally, a total of 700 standard panoramic radiographics, taken in the oral and maxillofacial radiology department, were prepared and interpreted by and oral and maxillofacial radiologist. The results of this study showed 52 soft tissue calcified lesions on radiographs, from among them 10 cases were of calcified carotid artery, 7 males and 3 females with the mean age of 64.8 years, ranging from 53 to 81 years. The left carotid artery was involved in 5 cases and the right carotid artery was involved in 3 cases where as in 2 cases both carotid arteries were calcified. Four individuals had no vascular risk factor [Excluding age and sex], while others showed at least one risk factor. Based on this study, the prevalence of carotid arteries calcification was found to be 1.4% in the population under study, 0.2% in the population age ranging from 45-55 years old and 3.1% among the individuals older than 55 years, which are in accordance with other reported studies in this field