Association between dental infections and the clinical course of chronic liver disease. Issue 3 (29th April 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Åberg, Fredrik; Helenius‐Hietala, Jaana; Meurman, Jukka; Isoniemi, Helena
• Is Part Of: Hepatology research. Volume 44:Issue 3(2014:Mar.)
• Page Start: 349
• Page End: 353
• Publication Date: 2013-04-29
• Subjects: Liver -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Liver Diseases -- Periodicals; Foie -- Maladies -- Périodiques; 616.362
• DOI: 10.1111/hepr.12126
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1386-6346

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="hepr12126-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>Dental infections are implicated in several systemic diseases due to bacteremia and pro‐inflammatory effects, but their possible role in liver disease is unclear.</p> </sec> <sec id="hepr12126-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We retrospectively analyzed the clinical course of liver disease in relation to dental health among 116 patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent dental examination before liver transplantation.</p> </sec> <sec id="hepr12126-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The need for multiple tooth extractions, a surrogate marker of dental infections, was associated with reduced time from diagnosis of liver disease to the need for liver transplantation (<italic>P</italic> = 0.02). The association was independent of age, sex, liver disease etiology and Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (<italic>P</italic> = 0.04). Among 38 patients with accurate laboratory follow‐up data, the number of tooth extractions correlated with the change in MELD score during the year preceding dental examination (<italic>r</italic> = 0.43, <italic>P</italic> = 0.03). Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis caused by <italic>Streptococcus viridans</italic> occurred only among patients with multiple dental infections.</p> </sec> <sec id="hepr12126-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Dental infections may influence the clinical course of liver disease, but prospective studies are needed.</p> </sec> </abstract>