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Increased infection risk postliver transplant without pretransplant dental treatment
Author(s) -
HeleniusHietala J,
Åberg F,
Meurman JH,
Isoniemi H
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2012.01974.x
Subject(s) - medicine , liver transplantation , medical record , gastroenterology , univariate analysis , transplantation , multivariate analysis
Objective Infections cause considerable morbidity after liver transplantation ( LT ). Acute liver failure is a rapidly progressing life‐threatening condition where pretransplant dental evaluation is not always possible. We investigated how missing pretransplant dental treatment in acute or subacute liver failure correlates with post‐transplant infectious complications. Subjects and methods Medical and dental data came from hospital records and infection data from the F innish LT registry. The follow‐up was until F ebruary 2011. Of 51 patients ( LT during 2000–2006), 16 had and 35 did not have dental treatment pretransplant. Results Univariate C ox regression analysis demonstrated a 2.46‐fold (95% CI 1.06–5.69) infection risk among the patients omitted from dental treatment. After adjustment for either pretransplant factors alone or both pre‐ and post‐transplant factors, the corresponding infection risk increased, respectively, to 8.17‐fold (95% CI 2.19–30.6) and 8.54‐fold (95% CI 1.82–40.1). This increased risk involved a variety of bacterial, viral, and fungal infections of various sources both < 6 and > 6 months after transplantation. Conclusion High risk of infections was noticed in acute liver failure patients without pretransplant dental treatment, but a more severe medical condition might have influenced the results. We encourage eradication of dental infection foci whenever clinical condition allows.