Calcified carotid artery atheromas on panoramic radiographs of head and neck cancer patients before and after radiotherapy

Background The aims of this study were to verify if head and neck radiotherapy (RT) is able to induce calcified carotid artery atheroma (CCAA) in a large head and neck cancer (HNC) population and also to compare the socio-demographic and clinical findings of patients with and without CCAA detected on panoramic radiographs. Material and Methods Panoramic radiographs taken before and after head and neck radiotherapy (RT) of 180 HNC patients were selected and analyzed in order to identify the presence of CCAA. In addition, CCAA presence or absence on panoramic radiographs were compared and correlated with clinicopathological findings. Results A high overall prevalence of CCAA was found on panoramic radiographs (63 out of 180 = 35%) of HNC patients. No significant difference of CCAA before and after RT was observed. There were also no differences between groups (with and without CCAA) regarding age, gender, tobacco and alcohol use, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, acute myocardial infarction, hypercholesterolemia, tumor location, clinical stage of disease and RT dose. However, there was a greater prevalence of strokes in patients with CCAA (p<0.05). Conclusions Although CCAA were frequently found in panoramic radiographs of patients with HNC, RT seems not to alter the prevalence of these calcifications. Key words:Head and neck cancer, radiotherapy, carotid artery diseases, panoramic radiography.