The carotid artery calcification in type II diabetic patients on panoramic radiographs: An important marker for vascular risk

摘要

The risk of stroke in diabetic patients is higher than other people. The most important cause of stroke is atherosclerotic plaque formation and detection of this defect is possible in panoramic radiography.This study was designed to evaluate the frequency of carotid artery calcifications (CACs) in type II diabetic patients and healthy individuals based on panoramic radiographs (PRs). We evaluated 458 PRs taken from 158 diabetic patients and 300 healthy subjects who served as the control group. Data were obtained using ‘chi-square’test for comparingtheCACs frequency between‘type II diabetic patients’and control groupon PRs.Significance level was considered at P-value & 0.05.A significant difference was seen in the frequency of calcification between diabetic patients and healthy individuals (p&0.001). Also, compared to the bilateral involvement, the unilateral prevalence of calcification was significantly higher; no significant differences were found between diabetic patients with or without calcification in terms of sex, duration of diabetes, mean FBS (fasting blood sugar), high serum lipids, high blood pressure, history of infarcts and daily smoking. The CACs on PRs of diabetic patients are more prevalent than normal individuals. In comparison with other normal individuals, the chance of discovering any CACs is higher on PRs taken from diabetic patients.