Oral surgeons should understand these characteristics of odontogenic brain abscess, in which the potentially causal odontogenic foci often lack acute symptoms. If other origins of infection are not found, it would be better to eliminate the potentially causal odontogenic foci for improvement of oral hygiene, however, the decision making criteria to eliminate suspected causal teeth is needed to be elucidated.
Various chemotherapeutic agents used in patients with hematopoietic malignancy cause serious side effects, including myelosuppression and immunosuppression. Immunosuppression makes patients more susceptible to infection, resulting in an increased risk of infectious complications, including the development of severe septicemia that may be life-threatening. It is necessary for dental staff to be familiar with an appropriate protocol in such cases and to share information about the chemotherapy with a hematologist. To verify the effectiveness of our dental intervention protocol, we conducted a prospective study on the incidence of complications for each myelosuppressive grade of chemotherapy in patients with hematopoietic malignancy. We compared the incidence of complications between treatment P (patients who finished all the dental treatments according to the protocol) and treatment Q (patients who did not) per grade (A, B, C, D) and incidence of systemic or oral findings. We also compared the incidence of oral complication related to the residual teeth between first chemo (patients who were undergoing chemotherapy for the first time) and prior chemo (not the first time). There were significant differences in inflammatory complications between treatment P and treatment Q. We found that both systemic and oral inflammatory complications increased with higher-grade myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Additionally, there was a significant difference between the incidence of oral complications related to the residual teeth between first chemo and prior chemo. Complete implementation of the dental intervention protocol was associated with fewer oral and systemic infectious and inflammatory complications in patients with hematopoietic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy. The incidence of oral and systemic complications also increased with grade of chemotherapy. These results support the validity of our dental intervention protocol. We should pay close attention to the oral state of de novo hematopoietic malignancy patients.
BackgroundOdontogenic diseases can be a risk factor for life-threatening infection in patients with hematologic malignancies during chemotherapy that induces myelosuppression of variable severity. Previous studies noted the necessity of the elimination of all odontogenic foci before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. To enable planning for the adequate dental intervention, the oral medicine team must understand the general status of patient and the intensity of the chemotherapy, which is sometimes difficult to be fully appreciated by dental staff. Therefore, a simplified grading would facilitate the sharing of information between hematologists, dentists and oral hygienists. This study aimed to introduce our myelosuppression grading of chemotherapies for hematologic malignancies and analyze the timing of occurrence of severe odontogenic infection.Methods37 patients having received various chemotherapies for hematologic malignancies were enrolled. The chemotherapy regimens were classified into four grades based on the persistency of myelosuppression induced by chemotherapy. Mild myelosuppressive chemotherapies were classified as grade A, moderate ones as grade B, severe ones as grade C, and chemotherapies that caused severe myelosuppression and persistent immunodeficiency (known as conditioning regimens for transplant) as grade D. The timing of occurrence of severe odontogenic infection was retrospectively investigated.ResultsTwo patients (5.4%) had severe odontogenic infections after grade B or C chemotherapy. One occurred after extraction of non-salvageable teeth; the other resulted from advanced periodontitis in a tooth that could not be extracted because of thrombocytopenia. Both were de novo hematologic malignancy patients. During grade D chemotherapy, no patients had severe odontogenic infections.ConclusionsThe simplified grading introduced in this study is considered a useful tool for understanding the myelosuppressive state caused by chemotherapy and facilitating communication between medical and dental staff. During the period around the primary chemotherapy, especially for de novo hematologic malignancy patients who often received grade B to C myelosuppression chemotherapy, caution should be exercised for severe odontogenic infection by the oral medicine team, irrespective of whether invasive treatment is to be performed.
The clinical efficacy of long-term roxithromycin treatment was examined objectively in nine patients with chronic diffuse sclerosing osteomyelitis of the mandible. Roxithromycin was administered orally at a dose of 300 mg/day for between 68 days and 66 months. In seven of the nine cases (77.8%), the symptoms disappeared 1-12 months after the start of therapy. Radiography showed that osteolytic changes (evident from 'moth-eaten' appearance of bone) had improved but that osteosclerosis had persisted or become more predominant by the end of therapy. Therefore, the optimum duration of treatment should be decided according to the amelioration of symptoms along with the disappearance of osteolytic findings in radiographs. Diarrhoea and stomach discomfort occurred in one case, and liver dysfunction in another, but these adverse reactions were relatively mild. The mechanism of action of roxithromycin in this study is not yet fully understood, but our results indicate that long-term roxithromycin treatment may be useful for diffuse sclerosing osteomyelitis of the mandible and should be attempted before surgical treatment is considered.
Understanding the clinical and underlying pathological differences between ORN and MRONJ probably contributes to the selection of appropriate treatment for each patient.
BackgroundD-index which combines the intensity and duration of neutropenia is reported as a tool for evaluating the dynamics of neutropenia. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between D-index and oral complications (i.e., oral mucositis [OM] and odontogenic infection [OI]) during chemotherapies for hematological malignancies.MethodsA total of 421 chemotherapeutic courses in 104 patients were analyzed. Chemotherapeutic courses in patients who finished all of the prophylactic dental treatments were defined as “treatment Finish”. Chemotherapeutic courses in patients who did not finish prophylactic dental treatments were defined as “treatment not-Finish”. OM was evaluated according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.0. D-index was compared between chemotherapeutic courses with versus without oral complications.ResultsD-index was significantly higher in chemotherapeutic courses with grade 1 or 2 OM (p < 0.001) than courses without OM. In contrast, higher D-index did not relate to the development of OI (p = 0.18). The occurrence of OI (p < 0.001) but not OM (p = 0.56) during chemotherapy was significantly higher in chemotherapeutic courses without the completion of dental intervention.ConclusionsHigher D-index relates to the development of OM. In contrast, OI occurs due to untreated odontogenic foci, and its occurrence does not relate to higher D-index.
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