The relationship of breast arterial calcification detected in mammographic examinations with cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular risk factors, parity, and breastfeeding

Abstract

Background/aim: We aimed to detect the incidence of breast arterial calcification (BAC) in patients that underwent mammography and to reveal the relationship of BAC with cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular risk factors, parity, and breastfeeding. Materials and methods: A total of 1195 female patients were included in this study. Cases that were positive for BAC during mammography were recorded. The relationship of BAC with age, body mass index, parity, breastfeeding, menopause, smoking, alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, hormone replacement therapy, and histories of hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM), coronary artery disease (CAD), and cerebral vascular diseases were investigated. Results: Overall, 97 of 1195 cases were positive for BAC. In univariate analysis, age, educational status, parity, breastfeeding, menopause, hyperlipidemia, and DM, HT, and CAD histories were found to be separate risk factors that had an effect on the development of BAC. The effects of age, parity, and breastfeeding history were maintained in the logistic regression analysis (P = 0.001, P = 0.001, P = 0.024, respectively; P < 0.05 was significant), while the significance of the other analyzed variables was lost (P > 0.05). Conclusion: We found that BAC is associated with age, parity, and breastfeeding but not with cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk factors.