Objectives: While periodontal disease (PD) is epidemiologically linked to acute myocardial infarction (AMI), its prognostic significance for subsequent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) remains ill-defined. This study investigated whether pre-existing periodontal disease is associated with 12-month major adverse cardiovascular events after acute myocardial infarction. Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled first-time AMI patients undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention between January and September 2024, excluding those with severe comorbidities or edentulism. Participants were stratified by pre-admission PD status into AMI (n = 138) and PD + AMI (n = 154) cohorts. The primary endpoint was 12-month MACE, encompassing recurrent MI, in-stent restenosis, heart failure-related re-hospitalization, or cardiovascular mortality. The association between PD and MACE was evaluated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors (age, sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Results: Baseline assessments revealed that the PD + AMI cohort exhibited elevated triglyceride levels ( P = 0.038) and a higher prevalence of multivessel coronary lesions ( P = 0.031) compared to AMI controls. Over the 12-month follow-up, patients with PD experienced significantly higher rates of recurrent MI/in-stent restenosis (6.49% vs. 4.35%, P = 0.034), cardiovascular mortality (5.19% vs. 3.62%, P = 0.039), and overall MACE (26.62% vs. 21.01%, P = 0.037). Heart failure re-hospitalization rates were comparable between groups ( P = 0.642). Crucially, multivariate Cox regression identified pre-existing PD as an independent predictor of 12-month MACE (hazard ratio HR = 2.218, 95% CI: 1.243-3.956, P = 0.007). Conclusion: Periodontal disease was independently associated with higher 12-month adverse cardiovascular outcomes after acute myocardial infarction, suggesting that periodontal status may be considered as one of the factors in further risk assessment.
Kan et al. (2026) studied this question.