The relation between breast artery calcification and subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are most common causes of mortality and morbidity. The presence of breast artery calcification (BAC) was shown to be associated with CVD. We aimed to determine the relationship between BAC and subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) by using strain echocardiography.Patients diagnosed with BAC between October 2023 and May 2024 were prospectively included. 100 age-matched patients without BAC were included as the control group. Patients were divided into two groups as BAC( +) and BAC(-) and further patients were grouped as LVSD( +) and LVSD(-) according to global longitudinal strain(GLS) measurements.A total of 94 patients with BAC( +) and 100 patients with BAC(-) were evaluated. When BAC(-) and BAC( +) groups were compared, GLS(-18.7 ± 2.6vs.-20.9 ± 1.7;p < 0.0001) was significantly lower in BAC( +) group and GLS was significantly decreased with increasing BAC grades (p < 0.0001). Significant deterioration in parameters indicating left ventricular diastolic function was observed in BAC ( +) group. BAC grade 3 (p = 0.002), increase in E/e' (p = 0.001), and NLr (p = 0.009) were identified as independent risk factors for LVSD. In the ROC analysis, a cut-off value of -17.3 for GLS was associated with 93.3% sensitivity of and 92.6%; specificity for predicting BAC grade 3.Presence of BAC is associated with subclinical LVSD and presence of BAC grade 3 is and independent predictor of LVSD. Detection BAC on screening mammograms may help to define patients under risk of heart failure development.