Vascular calcification in breast

Vascular calcifications in the breast are calcifications associated with blood vessels.  

Epidemiology

They are most often seen in postmenopausal women with arteriosclerotic heart disease. 

Associations

• coronary arterial disease: considered an independent risk factor ^2,3 (particularly in the 50-59 age group)
• in younger patients, vascular calcifications in the breast are often associated with diabetes mellitus 
• chronic renal disease

Pathology

These visible calcifications result from calcified atherosclerotic plaques in the arterial walls within the breast parenchyma, and are a form of Mönckeberg medial calcific sclerosis.

Radiographic features

Mammography

Vascular calcifications are typically seen as dense, linear, parallel, circuitous or tram-track like calcifications. They are usually not oriented in the direction of the duct towards the nipple-areolar complex.