Mammography can be used to identify a key indicator for heart disease in women, according to a study presented at the Menopause Society's annual meeting.
Researchers from the Philadelphia-based Drexel University College of Medicine followed almost 400 women for 18 years to study the association between cardiovascular disease risk and breast arterial calcifications found on mammograms, according to a Sept. 5 news release from the Menopause Society.
The study found that women with breast arterial calcifications, which look like white parallel lines on mammograms, had a 23% risk of experiencing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, compared to 13.9% for women without breast arterial calcifications.
The FDA requires healthcare facilities providing breast imaging services to notify patients of their breast density in mammography reports, as dense breasts can make mammograms more difficult to read.