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Background & Aims: The symptoms of xerostomia and taste alteration are adverse effects which frequently occur in patients under chemotherapy and once associated they can potentially impair their nutritional status. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of xerostomia and taste alterations in patients being treated by neoplastic chemotherapy., Methods: Fifty patients scheduled to receive neoplastic chemotherapy were followed for their first two chemotherapy cycles for solid tumors and the Chemotherapy-Induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS) was adopted. Xerostomia was defined by the presence of dry mouth complaints reported by the patients and signs of hyposalivation identified during the intraoral examination., Results: Of the 50 patients, 33 were women, mean age; 61,48 ± 9,07 years, and 17 were men, mean age; 57,35 ± 11,50 years. The most common tumor was located in the breast affecting 15 patients (30%). The Mann-Whitney test showed that the mean scores of CiTAS were significantly higher for those patients who reported having xerostomia when compared with those without xerostomia after the first two chemotherapy cycles. The cofounding variables such as age, smoking habits and use of antidepressants were not statistically associated with taste alterations (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: Taste alterations were worse for patients who complained of xerostomia during the first two cycles of antineoplastic chemotherapy and the association of both symptoms can potentially impair their nutritional status and quality of life., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The oral mucosa is an important defense barrier to penetration of microorganisms. Thus, changes in the oral epithelium might indicate risk for infection in intensive care patients receiving mechanical ventilation., Objective: To evaluate the oral mucosa of intensive care patients who did or did not receive mechanical ventilation by using liquid-base exfoliative cytology., Methods: The sample consisted of 3 groups: 27 patients admitted to intensive care during a 7- to 14-day period who received mechanical ventilation, 29 patients admitted during the same period who did not receive mechanical ventilation, and 27 healthy patients who had no lesions in the mouth. For all 3 groups, samples were collected from the buccal mucosa by using cytology brushes. Smears were applied to glass slides before Papanicolaou staining and were codified for blind analyses by a cytopathologist. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests were used to analyze the results., Results: Patients receiving mechanical ventilation had higher prevalence and intensity of karyomegaly, perinuclear halos, cell keratinization, deep cells, and leukocyte infiltrates than did patients in the other 2 groups ( P < .05). No significant differences were observed between the control group and the group who did not receive mechanical ventilation., Conclusions: Liquid-base exfoliative cytology can be used to detect preclinical alterations in the oral mucosa. Patients treated with mechanical ventilation are vulnerable to infections, and oral care may be valuable in their prognosis., (©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.)