How doctors are using mammograms to help identify women at risk for heart disease
Mammograms help doctors detect breast cancer, but now they are being used in a new way -- to identify women who are at risk for heart disease.
Not seeing signs of cancer on her routine mammogram is always great news for Katherine Bormann, but her last one told her something new. Doctors reported finding thin white lines and spots on her breast x-rays which could be potential red flags for her heart.
"I would have never thought to go to a cardiologist because I always felt healthy," said Bormann.
Research shows breast arterial calcification or BAC is found in about 12- to 23% of mammograms.
A recent California study of 5-thousand women found these tiny calcifications in the breast arteries are associated with a 51% increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
"Every radiologist sees breast arterial calcification. It's very obvious, but there are no guidelines about including it in your report. A mammogram report doesn't have to include whether you have signs of heart disease," said Dr Nina S. Vincoff, Division Chief of Breast Imaging at Northwell Health.
Right now, reporting BAC on mammograms is not the standard of care.
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But doctors at Northwell Health's Katz Institute in New York are trying to change that. They launched a new initiative that requires every mammogram to report signs of BAC. And if a woman has these calcifications, she's advised to speak to her doctor about her heart disease risk.
"If you have that finding, we would work with our patients to modify risk factors, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and those things prevent heart disease, stroke and also cancer," said Dr. Nisha I. Parikh, a cardiologist at the Katz Institute for Women's Health at Northwell Health.
After doctors told Bormann her mammogram results revealed breast arterial calcification, she went to a cardiologist. They discovered one of her heart arteries was severely blocked. Doctors inserted a stent to improve blood flow to her heart.
"If they didn't look for it in me, who knows if I'd be sitting here now...mammogram saved my life," said Bormann.
While more women worry more about breast cancer than heart disease, doctors say heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. It's also important to note that the absence of BAC doesn't mean a woman is at low risk for heart disease.
