Surfactant Protein A and Microbiome Composition in Patients With Atraumatic Intraoral Lesions.

Oral ulcers are lesions that occur due to disruption of epithelial integrity of the mucosa of the oral cavity. Intraoral ulcers are often associated with pain, redness, symptoms of discomfort, and blood hemorrhage. The etiology for many oral ulcers is local trauma, systemic health conditions, or medication; for other ulcers the cause is less clear.

When should sleep bruxism be considered in the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders?

Objective: Both temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and sleep bruxism (SB) are known to be destructive to the masticatory system. However, the association between the 2 conditions is poorly understood. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between TMD and SB through the signs and symptoms in 2 patient groups: TMD only and TMD with SB.

Medical and Dental Electronic Health Record Reporting Discrepancies in Integrated Patient Care.

Introduction: Oral health mirrors systemic health; yet, few clinics worldwide provide dental care as part of primary medical care, nor are dental records commonly integrated with medical records.

Objectives: To determine the degree to which misreporting of underlying health conditions poses problems for dental clinicians, we assessed misreporting of 2 common medical health conditions-hypertension and diabetes-at the time of dental examination and assessment.

Methods: Using comparative chart analysis, we analyzed medical records of a diverse group of patients previously seen at the University of Texas Physician outpatient practice and then treated at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry.

Cardiac arrhythmias and conduction disturbances in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Rhythm and conduction disturbances and sudden cardiac death (SCD) are important manifestations of cardiac involvement in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a major cause of SCD is atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, leading to acute coronary syndrome and ventricular arrhythmias. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), sinus tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and atrial ectopic beats are the major cardiac arrhythmias.

Myocardial catecholamines in primary heart muscle disease: fact or fancy?

The pathophysiological role of myocardial catecholamines in cardiomyopathies is still not completely understood. We there-fore assessed myocardial catecholamine concentrations (MCC) in 34 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) (76.5% males; mean age 46.