Mammograms and breast arterial calcifications: looking beyond breast cancer: a preliminary report

BACKGROUND: To find out the prevalence, clinical and biochemical correlates of Breast Artery Calcification (BAC) in the Nigerian women. FINDINGS: This is a cross sectional study involving 54 consecutive adult female subjects sent to the Radiology Department of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria for screening and diagnostic mammography. The study was carried out for a period of five months. The prevalence of BAC was 20%. Ageing was found to be related to BAC. Cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, obesity, alcohol ingestion, use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, were not significantly related to the presence of BAC in this study. CONCLUSION: This study showed that though the presence of BAC in a mammogram is related to age, it may not predict or serve as a significant marker for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in women in our environment.