Periodontal Disease and Recurrent Vascular Events in Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack Patients

Periodontal disease (PD) has been shown to be associated with incident stroke. We investigated whether PD is independently associated with recurrent vascular events and certain inflammatory markers in stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients. In this prospective, longitudinal, hospital-based cohort study, PD was assessed in stroke/TIA patients. High periodontal disease (HPD) was defined as the highest tertile of extent (% of sites) with an attachment loss of 5 mm or more. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (s-ICAM) were measured. The patients were followed for recurrent vascular events—stroke, TIA, myocardial infarction, and vascular death. In the 106 patients who were evaluated, 40 (38%) showed HPD and 27 (26%) had recurrent vascular events over a median of 24 months (range, 12-24 months). HPD patients had higher levels of IL-6 ( P = .01) and s-ICAM ( P = .03). HPD was associated with recurrent vascular events before (log-rank P = .01; hazard ratio [HR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-5.7) and after adjustment for significant confounders—age and stroke status (HR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-5.5; P = .03); adjustment for possible confounders—age, male, years of education, and cardioembolic strokes (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2-6.5; P = .02); and adjustment for propensity score that accounted for all potential measured confounders (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2-6.5; P = .02). There is an independent association between HPD and recurrent vascular events in stroke/TIA patients. HPD is also associated with higher serum levels of IL-6 and s-ICAM.