Department of Oral Surgery and Orthopedics, Division of Dental Radiology, Dental School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Department of Oral Surgery and Orthopedics, Division of Dental Radiology, Dental School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Eur J Radiol. 2021 Dec;145:110045. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2021.110045. Epub 2021 Nov 17.
To evaluate the presence of calcifications in the internal carotid artery (ICA) in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), and to verify the association of these findings with sex, age, dental condition, and risk factors associated with vascular disorders.
The CBCT scans used in this study were obtained from the database of a private dental clinic requested for the planning of rehabilitation with dental implants. The selection criteria were patients aged 40 years and above. Out of a pool of 1176 CBCT examinations, a total of 284 scans of adult patients were evaluated by two blinded observers. Data were collected from patients' medical records.
ICA calcifications were present in 63.0% of the examinations. Most calcifications were in the intracranial pathway (166). Despite being present in a smaller number 57 (C1), extracranial calcifications were more severe. Spearman's ρ coefficients (rS) indicated that the number of missing teeth was directly associated with the presence of calcifications (p = 0.042) and severity (p = 0.020). The age variable also had a direct relationship with the presence of calcifications (p ≤ 0.0001), increasing its frequency and severity over the years. In addition, hypertension (p = 0.036) and use of antihypertensive drugs (p = 0.015) were directly associated.
There is a high occurrence of ICA calcifications in CBCT as incidental findings in adult patients, and it is directly associated with age, number of missing teeth and hypertension.
评估锥形束计算机断层扫描（CBCT）中颈内动脉（ICA）内钙化的存在，并验证这些发现与性别、年龄、牙齿状况以及与血管疾病相关的危险因素之间的关联。
本研究中使用的 CBCT 扫描来自一家私人牙科诊所的数据库，这些扫描是为计划进行牙种植体修复而请求的。选择标准为年龄在 40 岁及以上的患者。在总共 1176 例 CBCT 检查中，共有 284 例成年患者的扫描由两名盲法观察者进行评估。数据从患者的病历中收集。
ICA 钙化在 63.0%的检查中存在。大多数钙化位于颅内段（166 例）。尽管颅外钙化数量较少（57 例），但其严重程度更高。Spearman ρ系数（rS）表明，缺失牙的数量与钙化的存在（p=0.042）和严重程度（p=0.020）直接相关。年龄变量也与钙化的存在呈直接关系（p≤0.0001），随着年龄的增长，钙化的频率和严重程度增加。此外，高血压（p=0.036）和使用抗高血压药物（p=0.015）也与钙化的存在直接相关。
在成年患者的 CBCT 中，ICA 钙化作为偶发发现的发生率很高，并且与年龄、缺失牙的数量和高血压直接相关。
