Oral mucositis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in relation to the conditioning used prior to transplantation.

This study was designed to investigate the frequency and severity of oral mucositis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, in relation to the type of conditioning used. Eighty patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia were assigned to two groups based on the conditioning regimen used before transplantation. The intensity of oral inflammatory lesions induced by chemotherapy (oral mucositis) was evaluated according to a 5-point scale recommended by World Health Organization. Oral mucosa was investigated in all patients before the transplantation and during two subsequent stages of the post-transplantation procedure in relation to the conditioning regimen used. Mucositis in the oral cavity was observed in the majority of patients (66%) in the first week after transplantation, whereas the largest percentage of patients suffering oral lesions (74%) occurred in the second week after transplantation. A significantly higher percentage of patients with mucositis was observed in the group which underwent myeloablation therapy (74% of MAC and 50% of RIC patients in the first week; 83% of MAC and 53% of RIC patients in the second examination).The severity of mucositis after transplantation was higher in the MAC patients compared to the RIC patients. The highest mean value of the mucositis index was recorded in the second week in the MAC group (1.59). In AML sufferers receiving allo-HSCT, oral mucositis is a significant complication of the transplantation. This condition is more frequent and more severe in patients after treatment with myeloablation therapy.

Periodontal status and the incidence of selected bacterial pathogens in periodontal pockets and vascular walls in patients with atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

The aim of the study was to examine the periodontal status of patients with atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms. The occurrence of 5 periodontopathogens was evaluated in periodontal pockets and atheromatous plaques together with specimens from pathologically changed vascular walls of aortic aneurysms. The study comprised 39 patients who qualified for vascular surgeries. Patients with periodontitis and concomitant atherosclerosis or aneurysms were enrolled in the study. Periodontal indices were evaluated, and subgingival plaque samples were examined together with atheromatous plaques or specimens from vascular walls to identify, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the following periodontopathogens: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tanarella forsythia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia and Treponema denticola. The majority of patients had chronic severe generalized periodontitis in stages III and IV. Laboratory investigations showed the occurrence of one or more of the five targeted periodontopathogens in 94.6% of the periodontal pockets examined. Of the examined periodontopathogens, only Porphyromonas gingivalis was confirmed in 1 atheromatous plaque sample collected from the wall of an aortic aneurysm. Therefore, the occurrence of this bacterium in these vessels was considered to be occasional in patients with chronic periodontitis.