Breast artery calcification as a predictor of coronary artery calcification: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Coronary artery disease is the main cause of burden of disease in the world. Coronary calcification is seen as an aetiopathological event in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Studies have shown that breast artery calcification, which is routinely found in mammography of elderly women, could be predictive of coronary artery calcification. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 60 women over 40 years of age were included. All of these patients had undergone mammography after having an indication to undergo a computed tomography-angiography. Breast arterial calcification and calcium scores were determined for each patient, and the paired-t test was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 49.52 ± 8.83 years. Of these 60 women, 50% were postmenopausal and 50% were not. In 37 (61.7%) cases, mild to severe coronary calcification was observed, and 50 (83.3%) had mild to severe breast arterial calcification. There was a significant correlation between coronary calcification and breast artery calcification (p = 0.001), and there was also a significant relationship between coronary calcification and postmenopausal calcification (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Breast artery calcification can be a suitable predictor for coronary artery calcification and is a valid method for predicting cardiovascular disease probability in the future.