Prevalence of Oral Mucosal Alterations In a Sample of Egyptian Patients With Cardiovascular Diseases: A Hospital- Based Cross-Sectional Study

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) still a major cause of health loss for all regions of the world. Sociodemographic change over the past 25 years has been associated with the dramatic decrease in CVD in regions with very high sociodemographic index (SDI), but only a gradual decrease or no change in most regions (Roth et al., 2017).

Statistics from the World Health Organization indicates that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Egypt, accounting for 46% of total deaths ( Royal Philips,2018).

The mouth serves as "a mirror of health or disease, as a sentinel or early warning system, as an accessible model for the study of other tissues and organs, and as a potential source of pathology affecting other systems and organs (Dr. Shantala Arunkumar, 2013).

The oral cavity is considered as a window to the body because oral manifestations accompany many systemic diseases. In many instances, oral involvement first appears than other symptoms or lesions at other locations. These oral manifestations must be properly recognized if the patient is to receive appropriate diagnosis and referral for treatment (Mehrotra et al., 2010b).

People with cardiovascular disease and who are at high cardiovascular risk (due to the presence of one or more risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia or already established disease) need early detection and management using counselling and medicines, as appropriate(World Health Organization, 2013).