Relationship between breast arterial calcification and coronary artery disease by invasive coronary angiography in postmenopausal women

•Breast arterial calcifications (BAC) are benign changes, found in 8–20% of mammograms.•BAC has emerged as a potential tool for detection of cardiovascular risk in women.•Women with BAC were older and had a longer time since menopause.•The presence of BAC was not associated with the severity of coronary artery disease. To evaluate the relationship between the presence of BAC and coronary artery disease (CAD) by invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in postmenopausal women. In this cross-sectional study, postmenopausal women (age ≥ 45 years) with history of CAD, who underwent both ICA and digitized mammography, within six months of each other, were enrolled. Women who underwent prior percutaneous coronary intervention, or exhibited grade D breast density (BI-RADS®) or breast cancer upon mammography were excluded. Digital mammograms were identified in the electronic medical record system and reviewed for the presence of BAC, without knowledge of the ICA results by two experienced physicians. The ICA results were obtained from the electronic medical record, and categorized as follows: 1-single-vessel disease; 2-two-vessel disease; and 3-multivessel disease (≥3vessels). For statistical analysis Student t test, Gamma distribution, Chi-square test and logistic regression (odds ratio,OR) were used. Of the 183 postmenopausal women evaluated, 39 (21.3 %) had BAC. Women with BAC were older and had a longer time since menopause when compared to women without BAC (68.2 ± 9.6 × 59.6 ± 10.0 years of age and 19 ± 10.1 × 13.5 ± 8.2 years, respectively) (p