Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 causes a hypercoagulable state leading to thrombosis. Many of these thrombotic complications occur in those with severe disease and late in the disease course. COVID-19 has recently been associated with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). Objective: To study the onset of CVT in relation to COVID-19 and compare their characteristics and outcomes with non-COVID CVT patients admitted during the same period. Materials and Methods: This multicentric, retrospective study conducted between April 4 and October 15, 2020, included adult patients with CVT who were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and compared them with CVT patients who were negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus hospitalized during the same period. We studied their clinical profile, risk factors for CVT, and markers of COVID coagulopathy, imaging characteristics, and factors influencing their outcomes. Results: We included 18 COVID-19-infected patients and compared them with 43 non-COVID-19 CVT patients. Fourteen patients in the COVID-19 group presented with CVT without the other typical features of COVID-19. Thirteen patients had non-severe COVID-19 disease. Twelve patients had a good outcome (mRS ≤2). Mortality and disability outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Our study suggests a possible association between COVID-19 and CVT. CVT can be the presenting manifestation of an underlying COVID-19, occurring early in the course of COVID-19 and even in those with mild disease. Patients with worse GCS on admission, abnormal HRCT chest, severe COVID-19, and need for invasive ventilation had a poor outcome.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is a common oral ulcerative disease, affecting 10% to 15% of the general US population. This article reviews the epidemiology and clinical presentations of recurrent aphthous stomatitis, including diagnosis and management.

Diagnosis and management of oral candidiasis.

Oral candidiasis is the most common fungal infection in both the immunocompetent and the immunocompromised populations. This article reviews the clinical presentations of the different forms of oral candidiasis, as well as the diagnosis and management.

Dysphagia: pathophysiology, presentation, diagnosis, and dental management.

Dysphagia is a common side effect of many systemic conditions that greatly affect oral care. This article draws from the literature concerning the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dysphagia as it relates to dental care. Treatment of dysphagia requires a multidisciplinary approach. Dentists are integral to the management of dysphagic patients, which includes improving natural or artificial dentition to aid in mastication and function and stressing the importance of adequate oral hygiene.

Oral mucositis: review of pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and management.

Oral mucositis is a debilitating and morbid condition among cancer patients that affects their quality of life and their overall ability to respond to treatment. The dentist plays an important role in the multidisciplinary health care team for the overall management of this condition. This article summarizes preventive and therapeutic treatment modalities available to dentists, based on the latest literature.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the buccal vestibule: A case report and review of the literature.

Minor salivary gland tumors of the buccal vestibule are relatively rare. Adenoid cystic carcinoma is the fifth most common salivary gland malignancy following mucoepidermoid carcinoma, adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (NOS), acinic cell adenocarcinoma and polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA). Greater than half of adenoid cystic carcinomas occur in the parotid and submandibular glands. The most common intraoral site is the palate. Adenoid cystic carcinoma tends to have a protracted clinical course with wide infiltration and late distant metastases. We present a case of an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the buccal vestibule in a 59-year-old Caucasian female patient that she had been aware of for 15 years.

Oral epithelial cell antifungal activity: approaches to evaluate a broad range of clinical conditions.

Anti-Candida activity by oral epithelial cells is considered one of several innate mucosal defense mechanisms against oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). OPC is the most common fungal infection in HIV disease. Previously we reported that oral epithelial cell anti-Candida activity is reduced in those with OPC, potentially representing a contributing factor to OPC. However, testing clinical epithelial cells possessing high levels of Candida has been limiting due to high background in the assay controls. HIV+ smokers often develop OPC sooner than non-smokers during progression to AIDS, suggesting additional immune aberrations. The purpose of this study was to design a means to reduce Candida associated with epithelial cells collected from saliva without affecting their in vitro growth inhibitory activity, and to employ that approach to evaluate antifungal activity in HIV+ smokers. To do so, oral epithelial cells with and without known levels of Candida were subjected to various treatments including azole, polyene, or echinocandin antifungal drugs or fixation followed by the standard growth inhibition (GI) assay. The results indicated that antifungal drugs, while effectively reducing cell-associated Candida, also affected epithelial cell function. In contrast, fixation with paraformaldehyde eliminated cell-associated Candida and had minimal effects on epithelial cell anti-Candida activity. Employing the fixation design that allowed a broad range of patients to be evaluated showed no difference in oral epithelial anti-Candida activity between HIV+ smokers and non-smokers. Therefore, oral epithelial cell antifungal activity does not appear compromised in those who smoke, reducing it as a contributing factor in susceptibility to premature OPC.