New research suggests that mammograms do not only assess breast health, they can also screen for heart disease.
Since there are no routine screening methods for heart disease, the researchers from Mount Sinai in New York City hope that their findings can provide some insight into how doctors can maximize the use of mammograms.
For this study, Dr. Jagat Narula from the Icahn School of Medicine and colleagues recruited 292 female participants who received a digital mammography and a chest computed tomography (CT) scan to examine breast arterial calcification (BAC) and coronary artery calcification (CAC). Levels of calcification in the breast are generally similar to calcification levels in the arteries.
The researchers had also collected information on risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and smoking status.
Overall, 42.5 percent of women had BAC. This group of women was more likely than women without BAC to be older, and have higher blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. From the CT scans, the researchers found that 47.6 percent of the women had CAC. The women were more likely to be older and have risk factors that included high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and diabetes when compared to women who did not have CAC.
The researchers also found that the presence of BAC had a 70 percent accuracy rate at predicting CAC. BAC was also a good predictor of heart disease in women.
"This study suggests that we should exploit available data that may provide surrogate information about the likelihood of subclinical coronary disease," Narula said. "In this study, BAC was found to be equally predictive of subclinical atherosclerosis as the standard risk factors."
Narula noted that despite the study's findings, the mechanisms behind the development of calcium in the breasts and in coronary arteries are different, and the link between the two is still unclear.
"Women should ask their radiologists if there was any calcification in their breast arteries," said Dr. Laura Margolies, senior author of the study. "This information can then be given to their primary care doctors to be used in conjunction with standard risk factors to determine if further evaluation (or treatment) would be of benefit."
Margolies also pointed out that "not all breast arterial calcification is indicative of significant cardiovascular disease. And people who are already being treated for cardiovascular disease might not derive any further benefit from knowing that the arteries in the breast are calcified, too."
The findings, which will be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session held in Chicago next month, were published in the JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.
