ORAL MANIFESTATIONS OF PATIENTS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) can have oral manifestations that even the patient may not be aware of. These manifestations could be linked to the disease itself or the treatment associated with it. Also, since a history of CHD may alter the treatment plan of some of the oral diseases or some oral diseases may affect the course of CHD, the current research was designed to better understand such interrelationships. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 42 CHD patients that were admitted to the department of Internal Medicine of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, were randomly investigated for a period of one year through a questionnaire and routine examinations and the final results are descriptively presented. Results: In 17 cases (40.5%), cyanotic mucosa was reported and in 6 cases (14.4%) pale tissues were noted. In 2 cases cleft palate (4.7%) and cleft lips (4.7%) were recorded. Conclusion: Oral manifestations recorded for patients with CHD were Cyanosis, pale tissues and cleft and palatte and lip. Although clefting and palate lip can not be directly linked to CHD, their presence in conjunction with CHD should be considered. Key words: Oral diseases, oral manifestation, congenital heart disease (CHD).