3-D Ultrasound Imaging Reliability of Measuring Dysplasia Metrics in Infants

Developmental dysplasia of the hip is a hip abnormality that ranges from mild acetabular dysplasia to irreducible femoral head dislocations. While 2-D B-mode ultrasound (US)-based dysplasia metrics or disease metrics are currently used clinically to diagnose developmental dysplasia of the hip, such estimates suffer from high inter-exam variability. In this work, we propose and evaluate 3-D US-derived dysplasia metrics that are automatically computed and demonstrate that these automatically derived dysplasia metrics are considerably more reproducible. The key features of our automatic method are (i) a random forest-based learning technique to remove regions across the coronal axis that do not contain bone structures necessary for dysplasia-metric extraction, thereby reducing outliers; (ii) a bone segmentation method that uses rotation-invariant and intensity-invariant filters, thus remaining robust to signal dropout and varying bone morphology; (iii) a novel slice-based learning and 3-D reconstruction strategy to estimate a probability map of the hypoechoic femoral head in the US volume; and (iv) formulae for calculating the 3-D US-derived dysplasia metrics. We validate our proposed method on real clinical data acquired from 40 infant hip examinations. Results show a considerable (around 70%) reduction in variability in two key 3-D US-derived dysplasia metrics compared with their 2-D counterparts.     

Global oral health inequalities: oral infections-challenges and approaches

Four oral mucosal infections were identified as Global Oral Health Priorities: (a) HIV and associated viral, bacterial, and fungal infections; (b) tuberculosis; (c) NOMA; and (d) sexually transmitted diseases. Huge global inequalities exist in all four. HIV-associated infections constitute the major challenge. Oral manifestations of AIDS can be specifically diagnostic, indicating a significant role for dentists within health teams. The World Workshops in Oral Health & Disease in AIDS have identified a research program, elements of which are being implemented. Data on oral mucosal involvement in tuberculosis, syphilis, and gonorrhea are incomplete in developed countries and virtually non-existent in low- and middle-income countries, indicating the need for further epidemiological studies. Oral manifestations of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases are largely associated with general health, so action programs should be integrated with agencies treating the systemic diseases. NOMA is very much in the oral health domain. It is a preventable disease associated with malnutrition and unidentified bacterial factors. Prevalence is probably grossly overestimated at present; but nevertheless it constitutes a challenge to the profession, especially in the NOMA belt. Current treatment is surgical, but plans for its eradication should be achievable. The global oral health community, especially the IADR, has a major role to play.     

Aetiological factors for oral manifestations of HIV

OBJECTIVES: Describe the oral diseases in HIV-infected individuals in London, UK and identify social and medical factors related to the presence of specific oral diseases.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytic study.
SETTING: Dental clinics.
SUBJECTS: Consecutive sample of 456 patients with HIV infection.
METHODS: Social and medical history and clinical examinations. Univariate and logistic regression analysis.
OUTCOMES: Presence of HIV-associated oral disease.
RESULTS: 80% of patients with AIDS and 50% of patients with HIV had a specific oral disease. The most common diseases were hairy leukoplakia (30%), erythematous candidiasis (24%), pseudomembranous candidiasis (14%), angular chielitis (6%), necrotising periodontal disease (8%) and non-recurrent ulceration (6%).
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of erythematous candidiasis was not related to advanced HIV disease. Pseudomembranous candidiasis, hairy leukoplakia and mucosal ulceration were significantly associated with advanced HIV disease. Smoking was also identified as a strong aetiological factor in oral diseases. Longitudinal studies are required to further explore the prognostic significance of oral diseases in HIV infection.     

Auto‐inflammatory syndromes and oral health

Auto‐inflammatory diseases (periodic syndromes) are rare childhood‐onset disorders which are characterized by fluctuating or recurrent episodes of fever and inflammation affecting serosal surfaces, joints, eyes and/or skin without significant autoantibody production or an identifiable underlying infection. They are disorders of innate immunity and the underlying genetic defect has been identified in most of the syndromes. Diagnosis relies on clinical symptoms and evidence of an elevated acute phase response during attacks, supported by finding mutations in the relevant genes. Several syndromes can lead to systemic AA amyloidosis. Aphthous‐like oral ulceration has been reported as one manifestation in several of the syndromes, including periodic fever, aphthous‐stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis (PFAPA) familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D and periodic fever syndrome, tumour necrosis factor receptor associated periodic syndrome and pyogenic sterile arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, acne (PAPA). Chronic jaw recurrent osteomyelitis has been recorded in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Advances in the molecular pathogenesis of these syndromes and the regulation of innate immunity have enhanced diagnosis, and rationalized therapies. This article reviews the periodic fever syndromes relevant to oral health and the suggested association of FMF with Behçet’s disease.     

Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita of the temporomandibular joint

A case of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita involving the temporomandibular joint is reported. This is only the second reported case in which surgery was used in an attempt to alleviate the limited mandibular opening that may be associated with this uncommon condition. The clinical findings at the time of surgery differed significantly from those classically associated with other joints afflicted with this condition, suggesting that a different pathophysiologic mechanism may be involved.     

Oral lesions of HIV disease and HAART in industrialized countries

The epidemiology of HIV-related oral disease in industrialized nations has evolved following the initial manifestations described in 1982. Studies from both the Americas and Europe report a decreased frequency of HIV-related oral manifestations of 10-50% following the introduction of HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy). Evidence suggests that HAART plays an important role in controlling the occurrence of oral candidosis. The effect of HAART on reducing the incidence of oral lesions, other than oral candidosis, does not appear as significant, possibly as a result of low lesion prevalence in industrialized countries. In contrast to other oral manifestations of HIV, an increased prevalence of oral warts in patients on HAART has been reported from the USA and the UK. HIV-related salivary gland disease may show a trend of rising prevalence in the USA and Europe. The re-emergence of HIV-related oral disease may be indicative of failing therapy. A range of orofacial iatrogenic consequences of HAART has been reported, and it is often difficult to distinguish between true HIV-related oral disease manifestations and the adverse effects of HAART. A possible association between an increased risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma and HIV infection has been suggested by at least three epidemiological studies, with reference to the lip and tongue. These substantial and intensive research efforts directed toward enhancing knowledge regarding the orofacial consequences of HIV infection in the industrialized nations require dissemination in the wider health care environment.     

An audit of the UK national cancer referral guidelines for suspected oral mucosal malignancy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the UK National Guidelines for identifying patients with potentially malignant oral disease which were introduced in 2000. DESIGN: Retrospective audit. SETTING: The oral medicine unit in a university teaching hospital in London. METHODS: All new referrals over a one year period were retrospectively reviewed in a departmental audit to evaluate guideline effectiveness. Reasons for referral and final diagnosis were compared in a randomly selected sub-population. RESULTS: Four hundred and eighty-seven of 901 new patients referred were classified as having potentially malignant disease from the referral letter. In a randomly selected subgroup of 241 patients, 18 actually had malignant (8) or dysplastic lesions (10). Of 75 patients referred with a persistent oral ulcer, only nine were actually malignant or dysplastic. Eight of 116 patients referred with a white patch and none with red patches were found to have dysplastic or malignant lesions. The criteria failed to identify three carcinomas and two severely dysplastic lesions (15% of the malignant or dysplastic lesions). All of the latter had been referred by primary care physicians with orofacial pain of unknown cause. CONCLUSIONS: UK National Guidelines discriminate poorly between potentially malignant and other oral mucosal disease.