Detection of Common Carotid Artery Calcifications in Panoramic Radiographs and its Relationship to Some Chronic Diseases for Local Population in Abha Southern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia -2017-2018: Prevalence and Reliability

Abstract

Introduction: Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of fatty material on its wall, forming atheroma plaques, which are composed of lipids and inflammatory cells. These plaques become thick, may suffer calcification and project themselves into the vessel lumen, determining blood flow change. Aim: The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of common carotid artery calcifications (CCAC) detected on panoramic radiographs (PR) in a group of Saudi population living in Abha region, and main risk factors. Materials and Method: The study is based on 412 Standard digital panoramic radiographs (Figure 1) retrieved from the archival records. All the panoramic radiographs were taken between 2010 to 2018 at the King Khalid University Faculty of Dentistry, The patients with or without dental problems were older than 18 years and treated with this clinic. Results: The study population consisted of total 412 , 190 of them males and 222 was females with age (range: 18-83 years) at the time of panoramic radiographs taken. Of the 412 individuals, 50 (12.2%) were detected to have common carotid artery calcifications on panoramic radiographs. The 50 individuals who had common carotid artery calcifications consisted of 22 males (41.7%) and 28 females (58.3%). Discussion: Carotid artery calcification, especially close to carotid bifurcation, can result in important vascular obstruction causing stroke. Several factors for the stroke are stratified into no modifiable and modifiable risk factors. The former are gender, age, ethnicity, and heredity, and the latter are hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity, smoking, and carotid atherosclerotic disease. Conclusion: As a result, common carotid artery calcifications found as incidental findings on standard panoramic radiographs may be important markers for future coronary artery disease, strokes and death. panoramic radiographs should be carefully examined in the area of the carotid artery in not only patients with systemic disease such as diabetes, renal disease etc, but also asymptomatic patients.

Possibilities of digital fluorography and other X-ray methods in the detection of carotid atherosclerosis

“…Проекции крупных сосудов попадают в «зону интереса» и других рентгенологических исследований. Многочисленные зарубежные и отечественные публикации двух последних десятилетий указывают на возможность выявления атеросклероза при ортопантомографии [21,25,26]. При этом частота выявления кальцинатов может достигать Рис.…”