Background. Oral mucositis is a common complication of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) conditioning therapy. Sequelae consist of increased risk for infection, moderate to severe pain, compromised oral function, and bleeding. This study investigated helium‐neon laser treatment for prevention of conditioning‐induced oral mucositis in BMT patients. Patterns and severity of mucositis for specific conditioning drug regimens also were analyzed. Methods. Twenty patients received laser radiation to their oral mucosa, either left or right of midline. The contralateral side was sham‐treated and served as a control. Mucositis severity was scored independently by two modified versions of the Oral Mucositis Index Scale (OMI‐A and OMI‐B) and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Oral Toxicity Scale; pain severity was scored by subjects on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Cumulative scores were analyzed for differences between the laser‐treated and sham‐treated sides. Results. Oral mucositis and pain scores were significantly lower for the treated versus the untreated side by OMI‐A and B (P < 0.005) and VAS (P = 0.027) criteria, respectively. Ulcerative lesions occurred in all patients bilaterally; severity increased until Day +6, and lesions resolved by Day +21. Mucositis was more severe for patients conditioned with busulfan/carboplatin/thiotepa than for patients conditioned with busulfan/cyclophosphamide/etoposide. Conclusions. Helium‐neon laser treatment was well‐tolerated and reduced the severity of conditioning‐induced oral mucositis in BMT patients.

Using a specially constructed microscope and transilluminating the intact free gingiva of ferrets, opossums, cats, dogs and rhesus monkeys, blood flow and vascular morphology were observed. Recordings were made on motion picture film at speeds up to 300 frames per second. The state of health of the gingiva was assessed clinically, histologically and by vital microscopy and the three assessments compared. The results indicate that free gingiva which have never been involved in inflammation exhibit a vascular morphology which can be described as a network. With the onset of histopathologic inflammatory changes, the network transforms to a characteristic loop appearance. Five stages of morphologic change are described, based upon the vascular topography seen at various stages of the cellular inflam‐ matory response. It is concluded that the vascular changes of inflammation in the free gingiva of the species studied, precede clinical and epithelial changes.

Vascular perfusion, vital microscopy and conventional histologic techniques were applied to a study of the structure and organisation of vessels in gingiva with no previous history of inflammation. The gingival vasculature around deciduous teeth of cats and dogs was found to be classifiable as a microvascular bed, containing arterioles, precapillary venules and venules less than 50«m in width. Capillaries predominated within crestal gingiva and within the superficial buccal and crevicular networks. Precapillary arterioles and postcapillary venules were most common in the mid gingival region. Small arterioles and venules were present in apical gingiva.Capillaries, comprising the network in crestal gingiva, were arranged as interconnecting repetitive units. Changes in the width, length and local morphology of vessels in each unit, with inflammation, resulted in the formation of vessel loops. With continuing inflammation, certain connecting vessels were lost while other vessels became spatially rearranged.

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In order to determine the role of gingival inflammation in the pathogenesis of the gingival enlargment seen in individuals taking diphenylhydantoin sodium (DPH), thirteen female and ten male adult mongrel cats were subjected to a coarse diet, irritating plastic bands around selected teeth, and a daily tooth brushing routine. Fourteen days after initiating the diet, bands, and brushing, 12 of the cats were randomly selected to receive a daily intramuscular injection, 10 mg/kg body weight, of DPH. The remaining cats received the equivalent amount of inert solvent. The maxillary quadrants containing banded teeth were not brushed whilst the maxillary quadrants containing no banded teeth were brushed daily. This combination produced grossly inflamed (banded) and non‐inflamed (non‐banded) maxillary quadrants in two groups of animals; one group receiving DPH, the other receiving vehicle only. The mandibular gingiva were not used in this study. It was possible to reproduce the clinical and histological appearance of DPH gingival enlargement in 11 of the 12 cats receiving DPH and whose gingiva were subjected to local irritation and no oral hygiene. Animals receiving DPH and oral hygiene care, but with no bands on adjacent teeth and thus no local irritation, showed no overt gingival enlargement. Analysis of the results reveals that in the presence of local irritants, producing inflammation, gingival enlargement develops after DPH administration. In the absence of irritants no enlargement occurs.