Intramammary arterial calcifications associated with diabetes

Arterial calcification was seen on the mammograms of 37 of 319 patients. Twenty-eight patients were known diabetics, while 7 had an abnormal fasting blood sugar level or glucosuria but were not being treated for diabetes. Eighteen (51%) of the 35 diabetic and borderline diabetic patients had breast arterial calcification, compared to only 19 (6.7%) of the 284 nondiabetics (p greater than 0.01). These findings suggest that arterial calcification on mammograms may be a sign of co-existing diabetes.