Frequency of carotid artery atheroma in post-menopausal women in panoramic radiographs reffered to oral and maxiofacial department of yazd dental school during 2016-17

The identification of people with carotid calcified atheroma is an important measure to reduce the incidence of brain stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of carotid artery atheroma in post-menopausal women in panoramic radiographs.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 151 panoramic radiographs from women aged 45 years and above that referred to the Radiology Department of Yazd Dental School during 2016-17, were selected by convenience sampling method. Radiographs were examined by PlanMeca 2002 EC proline panoramic digital machine. In radiographs, the presence or absence of carotid calcified atheroma was investigated and cases with differential diagnosis of atheroma were excluded. Patient's tomography data were recorded in a questionnaire and the collected data were analyzed by SPSS20 software and Chi-square test.
Resultus: In this study, 151 panoramic radiographs evaluated, 69 samples (45.7%) had carotid artery atheroma in radiography, and the largest view 40 samples (26.5%) were bilaterally.
The more time passes from the menopause of patients,the more they become involved with carotid artery calcification. That means carotid atheroma has a significant relationship with the number of years pass from menopause.