Periodontal disease as a risk factor of recurrence of venous thromboembolic disease: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, periodontal disease has been related to a large number of systemic disorders. OBJECTIVE: To study the possible relationship between periodontal disease and high levels of D-dimer in a group of patients with venous thromboembolic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was made of 142 patients diagnosed with unprovoked venous thromboembolic disease. All patients underwent oral examination consecutively and randomly. Finally, two groups were obtained: (a) patients with periodontal disease (n = 71); and (b) patients without periodontal disease (n = 71). All patients were subjected to periodontal study, with evaluation of the number of teeth, bleeding index, gingival index, simplified oral hygiene index, community periodontal index of treatment needs, clinical attachment level, probe depth, number of pockets >/=4 mm, number of pockets >/=6 mm. The D-dimer values were evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: D-dimer values were higher in the study group than the control group, with statistically significant differences (p = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: A relationship is observed between the presence of periodontal disease and high D-dimer levels. Patients with venous thromboembolic disease and periodontal disease could have more risk of a new thromboembolism episode.