Breast Arterial Calcification Is Associated with Reproductive Factors in Asymptomatic Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Objective: The etiology of breast arterial calcification (BAC) is not well understood. We examined reproductive history and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor associations with the presence of detectable BAC in asymptomatic postmenopausal women. Methods: Reproductive history and CVD risk factors were obtained in 240 asymptomatic postmenopausal women from a community-based research study who had a screening mammogram within 2 years of their participation in the study. The mammograms were reviewed for the presence of detectable BAC. Age-adjusted logistic regression models were fit to assess the association between each risk factor and the presence of BAC. Multiple variable logistic regression models were used to identify the most parsimonious model for the presence of BAC. Results: The prevalence of BAC increased with increased age ( p < 0.0001). The most parsimonious logistic regression model for BAC presence included age at time of examination, increased parity ( p ¼ 0.01), earlier age at first birth ( p ¼ 0.002), weight, and an age-by-weight interaction term ( p ¼ 0.004). Older women with a smaller body size had a higher probability of having BAC than women of the same age with a larger body size. Conclusions: The presence or absence of BAC at mammography may provide an assessment of a postmenopausal woman's lifetime estrogen exposure and indicate women who could be at risk for hormonally related conditions.

Routine mammography: an opportunity for the diagnosis of chronic degenerative diseases? A cross-sectional study

“…In keeping with the findings of Bielak et al (34) , Zafar et al (35) , and Akinola et al (36) , we found no correlation between obesity and BAC in our study sample. It is also noteworthy that we found no correlation between smoking and BAC, which is in line with the findings of Almeida et al (37) and Iribarren et al (33) .…”

Association of Microcalcification Clusters with Short-term Invasive Breast Cancer Risk and Breast Cancer Risk Factors

“…The data was too sparse to use multinomial logistic regression. Use of logistic regression is also consistent with a previous study of factors of vascular calcifications 24 . The risk factors were age, BMI, PD, parity, age at first birth, breastfeeding duration, breastfeeding, HRT use, smoking status, diabetes status and age at menopause, and these were treated in the same way as in the risk analysis.…”

“…These are in fact one of the most common false positives detected by CAD systems. We note that these calcifications are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that studies have shown that increasing age, diabetes, parity and earlier age at first birth are associated with higher BAC prevalence 24,30 , whereas smoking is associated with lower BAC prevalence 30 .

Figure 2Examples of calcification: ( a ) shows microcalcifications, and ( b ) shows breast arterial calcifications.

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Mammographic Screening as a Tool for Cardiovascular Risk Assessing. Part 1. Breast Arterial Calcification: Pathomorphology, Prevalence and Risk Factors

“…Распространенность КМА выше среди женщин, имеющих детей, чем среди бездетных -ОШ 3,43 (95%ДИ 2,23-5,27) [18]. С увеличением количества детей частота КМА «дозо-зависимо» увеличивается [20][21][22]. Отмечена более высокая распространенность КМА среди женщин, кормивших грудью хотя бы одного ребенка, по сравнению с женщинами, имеющими детей, но без грудного вскармливания [21].…”

“…Высказывается гипотеза, что воспалительный процесс, связанный с курением и способствующий развитию тромбоза и сосудистой дисфункции, лежащих в основе сердечно-сосудистых событий у курильщиков, имеет некие, пока не установленные особенности, в связи с чем не происходит усиления процессов кальцификации артерий молочной железы и некоторых других сосудистых областей [24][25][26]. Делаются попытки объяснить низкую распространенность КМА у курящих женщин влиянием никотина на массу тела и метаболизм эстрогенов, а также «селективной выживаемостью» курильщиц без КМА, достигших возраста старше 50 лет [22].…”