Expanding mammography reporting could ID women at risk of CVD
About 96 percent of women want to be notified about breast arterial calcification (BAC) detected during mammography, according to survey results published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
BAC found upon mammography could signal coronary artery calcification as well, wrote lead author Laurie R. Margolies, MD, and colleagues—so these patients may benefit from further testing or referral to preventive cardiologists.
“Breast radiologists are in a strong position to identify BAC, notify patients of its presence, and help women with BAC reach preventive cardiologists,” wrote Margolies, with Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and coauthors. “Future research will determine if adding BAC to reports and creating an actionable model have meaningful impact on women's cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”
An overwhelming majority of women who were surveyed—95.8 percent of the 379 who answered that particular question—said they would like to have BAC reported. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (62.5 percent) said they would prefer for the radiology department to share the results via a letter or telephone call.
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Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.