Mammo+Heart Screening

Name: Mammo+Heart - Wellness Imaging
Brand: Washington Radiology

With heart disease and breast cancer being some of the leading causes of death in women, we're on a mission to give you more lifesaving insight into your health.

Mammo+Heart AI screening software* can detect breast arterial calcification when used in parallel with screening mammography. Breast arterial calcification is a calcium build up in the arteries of the breast. As calcium deposits form, the vessel wall becomes stiffer and less elastic and can lead to increased pressure on the heart as it works to pump blood through the vessels. The presence of calcified arteries in the breast has been linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in women, as indicated in a 2019 article in Circulation, a journal for the American Heart Association, which is cited here: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.038092 And according to a November 2024 article in JACC: Advances, which is cited here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101283.

Take advantage of what your mammogram plus additional screening can tell you about your heart. Opt in at the time of your appointment.

FAQs

Mammo+Heart is an AI screening tool for asymptomatic women between the ages of 40 and 89. It is intended to detect the presence or absence of breast arterial calcification in parallel with breast screening mammography. It is not intended to be a diagnostic test; however it is an indication of possible cardiovascular risk and may require patient action, according to a JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging article published in 2016, which is cited here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936878X16000164?via%3Dihub

Yes, the breast arterial calcification detection and localization software that Washington Radiology uses is FDA cleared.

There is “strong evidence for an association between BAC (breast arterial calcification) and coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and increased risk of cardiovascular death,” as reported in the Journal of Breast Imaging, cited here: https://doi.org/10.1093/jbi/wbad063. Patients with this finding may be candidates for additional cardiovascular screening by their primary care physician or cardiologist.

Mammo+Heart AI software reads mammography images to help the interpreting radiologist determine the presence or absence of breast arterial calcification. An expert radiologist will review and sign off on these results.

Yes, multiple clinical studies have found significant correlation between the presence of breast arterial calcification and cardiovascular disease. One such study noted that women who had breast arterial calcification present on their mammogram were 51% more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke compared with women who did not have breast arterial calcification. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/mammograms-may-provide-clues-about-womens-risk-for-cardiovascular-disease

Another study on the relationship between breast arterial calcifications on mammograms and cardiovascular events stated that cardiovascular mortality increased by 40% in women with breast arterial calcification compared to women without it, reaching 90% in diabetic women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9776346/

Your breast arterial calcification results will be delivered via secure email, typically within a few business days.

We recommend that you consult with your primary care physician to determine if further cardiac evaluation is appropriate after receiving your Mammo+Heart screening result.

The absence of breast arterial calcification is not a final diagnosis relating to the absence of coronary heart disease. The presence of other signs or symptoms should be discussed with your primary care physician. We recommend that you consult with your primary care physician to determine if further cardiac evaluation is appropriate after receiving your Mammo+Heart screening result.

See the following citations for more clinical insight into breast arterial calcification and its association with cardiovascular risk.

Preparing for Your Exam

There are no special preparations for a Mammo+Heart screening. The screening occurs at the same time as your mammogram, so please follow our recommended preparation instructions for a screening mammogram.

*Mammo+Heart uses cmAngio®, an FDA-Cleared Artificial Intelligence (AI) based detection software, to identify the presence or absence of breast arterial calcification (BAC) as an incidental finding in FFDM and DBT screening mammograms. The finding indicates whether calcium buildup is present in the breast arterial wall. BAC has been associated with a higher risk of coronary heart or cardiovascular disease, but the presence or absence of BAC alone is not a diagnosis for coronary heart or cardiovascular disease or determinative of a patient’s risk for coronary heart or cardiovascular disease. Results from Mammo+Heart may be used for further patient management at the discretion of a primary care physician, cardiologist, or specialist. If BAC is detected, please consult your primary care physician, a cardiologist, or specialist for further information on diagnosis and treatment.