If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Vascular Calcifications on Mammography Foretell Coronary Disease and Diabetes Risks: Presented as ASBS By Carole Bullock NEW YORK -- May 8, 2008 -- Vascular calcifications identified on screening mammography could be a new tool for predicting a woman's risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) and diabetes, according to a large prospective study presented here at the 9th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS). The researchers identified a highly significant association between vascular calcifications on mammography and a history of CAD and diabetes (P < .0001) but not peripheral vascular disease (PVD). The prospectively conducted study included 1,000 women undergoing routine screening mammography who answered a health questionnaire regarding their history of CAD, diabetes, and PVD. All screening mammograms were read by dedicated mammogram radiologists, blinded to the questionnaire results, who recorded presence or absence of vascular calcifications, Dr. Dale noted. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistical method was used to determine the association of mammographic vascular calcifications and a history of CAD, diabetes, and PVD. Paul Dale, MD, Chief of Surgical Oncology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri, presented the findings in a poster session on May 3. The results showed that the risk of diabetes was 4.3 times higher and the risk of CAD was 3.6 times higher for women with vascular calcifications identified on screening mammography compared with women without mammographic vascular calcifications, irrespective of age. In the United States, CAD and diabetes are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in women, the researchers noted. "Fifty million women undergo routine mammographic screening yearly. Prior studies have indicated that benign vascular calcifications identified on routine screening mammography are more prevalent in women with CAD, diabetes, and PVD, but this confirms the risk is significantly higher than expected," Dr. Dale noted in an interview. It also suggests that mammography could become an "all in one" screening tool for CAD and diabetes, he added, reducing morbidity and mortality dramatically through early treatment of these preventable and prevalent diseases. "I do not think this will change the frequency of mammography from once a year," he added. Due to trial constraints, the patient information was not confirmed by chart review, only by a patient history, the researchers noted. Even though the researchers did not correlate the amount of calcifications and disease, "we will be looking at that in future trials," Dr. Dale said. [Presentation title: Vascular Calcifications Identified on Screening Mammography Indicate Increased Risk of Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes. Abstract P40]
|
