Relationship between cardiovascular risk in older women and parameters of mammograms obtained as part of a medical examination

BACKGROUND. Validation of the SCORE2 scale in the Russian population showed high accuracy in assessing cardiovascular risk (CVR) in men, but not in women. The development of new methods for assessing CVR in women is therefore an urgent task. A number of mammographic parameters, such as breast calcification (BC) and breast density (BD) can be additional biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases in women.

AIM. To assess the relationship between the results of a retrospective analysis of mammograms and CVR in women aged 65 years and older.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. Retrospective analysis involved the mammograms of 570 patients who subsequently underwent medical examinations at the Research and Educational Center of the Moscow State University. BD and BC were assessed based on scales developed by the American College of Radiology. The CVR was assessed in accordance with the Guidelines of the Russian Society of Cardiology. Statistical analysis was performed using the open-source R 4.1 environment.

RESULTS. A relationship was found between mammographic parameters and CVR in women aged 65 years and older. Low BD, the presence and prevalence of BC were associated with higher CVR. The vascular type of calcifications was typical for patients with high and very high CVR. The absence of statistically significant differences in the density and calcification between the right and left mammary glands will be considered when developing an integral marker to verify the obtained results.

CONCLUSIONS. A method for secondary analysis of preventive mammography data can help assess the CVR and determine rational routing of patients within the framework of the second stage medical examination. Downward reclassification of cardiovascular risk factors will help avoid unnecessary prescription of statins, while upward reclassification will help prescribe optimal treatment and provide additional motivation for women to correct cardiovascular risk factors.