Calcification of breast artery as detected by mammography: association with coronary and aortic calcification

Abstract

Background/aim: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) and aortic calcification (AC) are significant risk factors for coronaryatherosclerosis. This study investigated how breast arterial calcification (BAC) detected from routine mammography correlates withcoronary artery calcification and aortic calcification.Materials and methods: A total of 404 female patients above 40 years of age who, within a 6-month period, had undergone thoraciccomputed tomography and mammography for various reasons were screened retrospectively at our clinic. Mammographies wereassessed for BAC and thoracic CT investigations were assessed for CAC and AC. Patients included in the study were scored as 0 (none),1 (mild), 2 (moderate), or 3 (severe) depending on the number and shape of CAC, AC, and BAC lesions observed.Results: Four hundred and four females were enrolled in the study. While BAC was detected in 123 patients, no BAC was observed inthe other 281 patients. In the BAC-positive patients, the rates of CAC (45.5% vs. 19.9%, P < 0.001) and AC (67.5% vs. 32.4%, P < 0.001)were notably higher than in the BAC-negative patients. In addition, multivariate regression analysis detected the presence of BAC as anindependent variable for both CAC and AC.Conclusion: The presence of BAC appeared to be a significant risk factor for CAC and AC, and the BAC grade was considered anindependent risk factor for CAC.