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Regular mammograms are used to screen women for breast cancer. But new research suggests that images showing calcium buildup in a woman’s chest arteries could help predict a woman’s risk for serious cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack or stroke. It suggests something.
The findings even suggest that the presence of breast artery calcification may be a better predictor of cardiovascular disease in some women than currently used risk tools, a much-needed This provides an opportunity for prevention. The study will be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting in Philadelphia on November 13th.
“We know we need to find better ways to predict heart disease in women before it occurs,” said lead researcher Tara Ali, Ph.D., a cardiology fellow at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, New Hampshire. said. “We’re saying these patients can be risk-stratified anyway by regular mammograms they get every one to two years. This is more than the average cardiologist knows about the women at risk. It’s a very easy way to find out if you’re there.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with stroke being the fifth leading cause of death. However, although cardiovascular mortality rates are declining, the decline is more pronounced among men and remains stagnant among women under 55.
“This is a major area where we are failing as cardiologists,” Ali says. “We are really trying to close that gap with this study.”
Her research builds on a growing body of evidence suggesting that screening mammograms may reveal the presence of breast artery calcification (BAC) and thus be a useful tool for predicting cardiovascular risk. I am. Previous studies have proven that BAC is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
During a 10-year follow-up period, researchers looked at the association between BAC and major cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, insertion of stents to keep arteries open, and death from any cause. . This study enrolled 1,216 women from their 40s to their 75s who underwent screening mammography at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. They did not have coronary artery disease when the study began.
Researchers found that 1 in 5 women have BAC detected by screening mammograms, and twice as many women with BAC experience a major cardiovascular event within 10 years as women whose mammograms did not show arterial calcification. I discovered that. Among women with BAC, 21% later experienced a cardiovascular event, compared with 11% of women without BAC. Women with BAC were older, more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes, and more likely to take cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure medications.
Ali et al. also discuss how their results compare to cardiovascular risk predictions made using pooled cohort equations, the current standard for predicting cardiovascular risk in both men and women. We also investigated. They found that the risk equation underestimated future cardiovascular events in women and that the presence of BAC was a better predictor. This was especially true for women who were determined to be low risk by their risk equation scores. 18% of women with BAC experienced a cardiovascular event, compared with 7% of women who did not have calcifications in their thoracic arteries.
The findings are considered preliminary until the full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“We’re always looking for the best ways to predict risk and optimize prevention strategies over a woman’s lifespan,” said Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York. said Dr. Stacey Rosen, Senior Vice President.
“Our usual tools don’t work particularly well for women,” she said. “This study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that breast artery calcification may be an important and readily available risk predictor for women.”
Given that the current study included primarily non-Hispanic white women, Rosen said researchers still need to determine whether BAC can predict cardiovascular risk across different races and ethnicities. There is a need to investigate how the predictive ability of BAC is influenced by the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors.
The results need to be confirmed in larger trials that follow women over time so that guidelines can be established for reporting women and their health care professionals when BAC appears on a mammogram, Ali said. Ta.
“Radiologists see calcifications, but they don’t report them because the guidelines don’t require them to do so,” she says. “They are missing out on the opportunity to talk to women about reducing other modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, smoking, and obesity.”
“While we can’t change arterial calcification, we can aggressively address other risk factors,” Ali said.
Check out more news from Scientific Sessions.
