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Breast arterial calcification in association with diabetes mellitus: too weak a correlation to have clinical utility
Insights
Breast arterial calcification detected on mammograms is a stronger indicator of aging than diabetes. Its association with diabetes mellitus is too weak for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Vascular Health
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Breast arterial calcification (BAC) is observable on mammograms.
- The relationship between BAC and diabetes mellitus (DM) requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the association between breast arterial calcification and diabetes mellitus.
- To evaluate the clinical utility of BAC as a marker for diabetes.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study of 5,000 consecutive patients undergoing mammography.
- Analysis of mammograms for the presence of arterial calcification.
- Comparison of calcification prevalence between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals, stratified by age.
Main Results:
- Arterial calcification was detected in 481 (9.6%) of 5,000 patients.
- Prevalence of BAC was higher in diabetics (42.5%) than non-diabetics (8.9%).
- BAC showed a stronger association with advancing age than with diabetes; no diabetics under 50 had BAC.
Conclusions:
- Breast arterial calcification is a more reliable indicator of advanced age than diabetes.
- The association between BAC and diabetes is not strong enough for clinical application.
- Mammographic screening for BAC is not recommended as a diagnostic tool for diabetes mellitus.
Abstract:
A large-scale prospective study was designed to characterize the association between breast arterial calcification and diabetes mellitus. Arterial calcification was seen on the mammograms of 481 of 5,000 consecutive patients. The prevalence of arterial calcification was substantially higher among diabetics (45/106 = 42.5%) than among nondiabetics (436/4,894 = 8.9%). An even more significant association was found between arterial calcification and advancing age for both diabetics and nondiabetics. None of the 31 patients younger than 50 years with arterial calcification were diabetic, and none of the nine diabetics younger than 50 years had arterial calcification. Most important, less than 10% (45/481) of the patients who demonstrated arterial calcification were found to be diabetic. The presence of arterial calcification on mammograms is a more reliable indicator of advancing age than of diabetes, and the association of breast arterial calcification with diabetes is too weak to be clinically useful.