An observational study in Myocardial Infarction, Acute and Periodontitis, sponsored by University of Aberdeen. Recruiting at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-08.
Sponsored by University of Aberdeen · Observational
Heart attack remains a major cause of death in adult population worldwide and especially within Scotland. A large portion of the general population has an increased risk of suffering from a heart attack because of their genetic make-up, disease profile and lifestyle choices.
Literature suggests that apart from these known risk factors, long-standing inflammation (reaction of tissues to infection or injury) elsewhere in the body may be responsible for heart attacks. It has been suggested that gum disease may be one such condition. If left untreated, gum disease may expose the entire body to a long-term inflammatory burden where inflammatory molecules can disseminate from the gums into the bloodstream and affect various body structures. This study explores the influence of gum disease on the risk of heart attack by comparing the gum health of participants who recently had a heart attack to the gum health of participants with no history of heart problems after accounting for other risk factors. Findings will provide critical information for the design of our forthcoming study to establish the effect of treatment of gum disease on the risk of heart attack, and its cost-effectiveness. Ultimately this research will tackle another risk factor for heart attacks and thus inform enhancement of public health prevention strategies.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a multifactorial condition leading to most cases of myocardial infarction and results from interaction of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. However, as many as 50% of CAD patients lack classical risk factors of CAD suggesting the presence of other contributory mechanisms. Inflammation plays a central role in the initiation and growth of the plaques which form in the arteries (atherosclerosis) and lead to CAD3. As such periodontal disease, an inflammatory process leading to progressive destruction of tooth-supporting structures, has been associated with CAD. In vivo pre-clinical studies have shown that bacteria associated with periodontal disease can exacerbate atherosclerosis 7. Numerous clinical studies have explored the association between periodontal disease and CAD at different follow-up times following episodes of myocardial infarction 8-9. However, there are no reports investigating this association during the acute phase of myocardial infarction. In addition the need for rigorous matching of all known CAD risk factors in case control studies has so far been overseen.
RATIONALE FOR STUDY:
This case-control study aims to compare the health of tooth supporting structures (periodontium) in patients hospitalised for acute myocardial infarction to a control group of patients rigorously matched for known CAD risk factors, age and gender.
2,270 studies on the registry are indexed under Myocardial Infarction; 371 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 320 is below the median of 568 across 814 observational studies indexed under Myocardial Infarction.
Browse Myocardial Infarction studies →University of Aberdeen is the lead sponsor of 176 studies on the registry; 24 are open to participants now.
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Patients for the case study group will be recruited from those hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction on the Cardiology Ward and Coronary Care Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
A control group of dental patients matched for age (±7 years), gender, and risk factors for CAD (hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and family history) but with no history of myocardial infarction will be selected at Aberdeen Dental School or from the SHARE register or via the NHS Research Scotland Primary Care Network
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients for the case study group will be recruited from those hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction on the Cardiology Ward and Coronary Care Unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. All patients will be diagnosed using current clinical criteria for type-1 myocardial infarction according to the ESC guidelines10 and recruited within 3 days of admission. Recruitment of this arm is now complete.
Other: Full-mouth periodontal examination using computerised Florida probe
A control group of dental patients matched for age (±3 years), gender, and risk factors for CAD (hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking, hypercholesterolaemia and family history) but with no history of myocardial infarction will be selected at Aberdeen Dental School or from the SHARE register or via the NHS Research Scotland Primary Care Network on an invitation basis. Thr recruitment of this arm of the study is ongoing.
Other: Full-mouth periodontal examination using computerised Florida probe
It is an observational study to investigate the prevalence of periodontitis in cases and controls.
Prevalence of periodontitis
Our primary objective is the description of periodontal health in patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction compared to matched controls
Time frame: Single point examination
Plan to share: Undecided
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