Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment on Clinical and Biochemical Risk Markers of Cardiovascular Disease: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Various studies have shown periodontal disease is one of the risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD), and periodontal treatment of patients with CHD has also been correlated with reduction in systemic markers of CHD. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of non-surgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) on the cardiovascular clinical and biochemical status of patients with CHD.

Methods: Seventy known patients with CHD were allocated randomly to either a control group (C; no periodontal therapy) (n = 35) or an experimental group (E; NSPT in the form of scaling and root planing [SRP]) (n = 35).

Failure to retrieve undeployed paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents.

Following the observation of difficulty in retrieving undeployed paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents (Taxus), we performed a retrospective analysis of 1,415 consecutive percutaneous coronary interventions and addressed the frequency of damaged or lost undeployed coronary stents. The incidence for Cypher, Taxus, and bare metal stents was 0%, 1.5%, and 0.