Analysis of Risk Factors for the Development of Carotid Artery Atheroma and the Role of Panoramic Radiography for Diagnosis: A Literature Review

This literature review aims to address numerous researches that have associated the prevalence of carotid artery atheromas detected in panoramic radiographs in relation to the patients presenting the risk factors for its development.

The articles were searched in the PubMed and SciELO databases, using the following descriptors: atherosclerosis, carotid, infarction, panoramic, radiography. Articles cover the period between 2012 and 2018. Of the 25 articles found, 10 were discarded because they were not compatible with the proposed research.
Considered the main result of atherosclerosis, the atheromas are plaques accumulated in the internal wall of the carotid artery; being a cardiovascular pathology, whose process consists of the thickening of the arterial walls, linked to the narrowing and stiffening of the vessels.

The existence of atheromas in the carotid artery in asymptomatic individuals is constantly associated with the future development of stroke, angina, myocardial infarction and death.2

In conclusion, new findings provide compelling evidence that atherosclerotic plaques of the carotid artery are a common finding in panoramic images of patients with the systemic diseases addressed in this article.

Keywords: atherosclerosis, carotid, infarct, panoramic, radiography.