Your mammogram may reveal a warning sign about your heart. A new law says women should be told

Most women go for a mammogram thinking about one thing: breast cancer. But those same images can sometimes reveal something entirely different—a potential clue about a woman’s cardiovascular health.

A new Maryland law that took effect October 1 requires mammography centers to notify patients when their mammograms show breast arterial calcification, or BAC, calcium deposits visible in the arteries of the breast. The law reflects growing evidence that women with BAC may have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

That does not mean breast arterial calcification is heart disease, nor does finding it mean a woman is destined to have a heart attack or stroke. But researchers increasingly believe it may provide useful cardiovascular information that has been sitting, largely unused, on mammograms women are already getting.

What is breast arterial calcification?

Breast arterial calcification occurs when calcium builds up in the walls of arteries within the breast. On a mammogram, a radiologist can see these calcified blood vessels.

It is important not to confuse BAC with other breast calcifications.

Some tiny calcium deposits within breast tissue can have characteristics that prompt additional breast imaging or, occasionally, a biopsy to rule out cancer. Breast arterial calcification is different. It occurs within blood vessels and is considered a benign breast finding—it is not breast cancer or a precancerous lesion.

The reason researchers are interested in it is what it may say about the cardiovascular system.

A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis indexed by the National Library of Medicine examined studies involving approximately 25,000 women followed for six to 12 years. Women with BAC had a significantly higher rate of subsequent cardiovascular events. The researchers concluded that BAC may offer a potentially useful, no-additional-cost way to enhance cardiovascular risk assessment in women.

In other words, the mammogram isn’t diagnosing heart disease. It may be revealing another piece of information about cardiovascular risk.

A new law says women should be told

Beginning October 1, 2026, Maryland law requires mammography centers to include information about breast arterial calcification in the results letter sent to a patient when BAC is seen.

The required notice explains that BAC is a common finding but may indicate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Women are advised to discuss the finding with their physician to assess their cardiovascular risks and determine whether additional testing might be appropriate.

That wording is deliberately cautious.

BAC does not mean you have blocked coronary arteries, and its presence does not automatically mean you need a heart scan, medication or a visit to a cardiologist.

Instead, it provides another reason to look at the woman’s overall cardiovascular risk.

How strong is the connection to heart disease?

Evidence has been accumulating for years, but newer studies have strengthened the case.

In the 2026 meta-analysis, women with BAC had about an 82% higher rate of future cardiovascular events than women without it after researchers pooled results from four cohort studies and accounted for other factors in their analyses.

The same review found that BAC was also strongly associated with evidence of underlying coronary artery disease.

Research from the large MINERVA study, which included more than 5,000 women ages 60 to 79, found BAC in about 26% of participants. Even after researchers adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, women with BAC had a higher risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

None of this means BAC itself is necessarily causing cardiovascular disease. It may instead be a visible marker of vascular changes occurring elsewhere in the body.

Why your doctor may never have mentioned it

One of the stranger aspects of BAC is that radiologists have been able to see it for years, but it hasn’t always been routinely reported.

A survey of breast radiologists published in the Journal of Breast Imaging found that although most respondents were aware of research connecting BAC with cardiovascular disease, relatively few routinely included the finding in their reports.

That discrepancy helps explain why a woman could have undergone years of mammograms without ever hearing the term.

Mammography has traditionally had one primary purpose: finding breast cancer. An incidental finding that didn’t change breast-cancer management could therefore receive little attention.

Research is now asking whether that represents a missed opportunity.

Why mammograms could be especially useful for women’s heart health

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women in the United States.

Mammography offers an intriguing opportunity because millions of women already undergo the test, particularly during the same decades when cardiovascular risk begins becoming increasingly important.

No additional scan, radiation exposure or appointment is required to see BAC—it is already visible on the mammogram.

That doesn’t mean mammography should become a heart-disease screening test. Researchers are still determining exactly how BAC should be incorporated into cardiovascular risk assessment and whether acting on the finding ultimately improves outcomes.

But it may provide information that doctors otherwise would not have had.

What should you do if your mammogram shows BAC?

First, don’t panic.

BAC is a risk marker, not an emergency and not a diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Instead, use the finding as an opportunity to review your overall cardiovascular health with your primary-care clinician.

That conversation might include your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, smoking history, exercise habits, family history and other factors that influence cardiovascular risk.

You can also ask a straightforward question: Does the presence of BAC change my estimated cardiovascular risk enough that we should do anything differently?

For some women, the answer may simply be to continue monitoring established risk factors. For others—particularly those with additional risks—a clinician may decide that further evaluation is appropriate.

There is currently no universal recommendation that every woman with BAC undergo coronary calcium scanning or other cardiac imaging.

Should you ask about BAC after your next mammogram?

If you live somewhere that does not require patient notification, it is reasonable to ask whether breast arterial calcification was seen.

You might simply ask: “Did my mammogram show breast arterial calcification, and if it did, should I discuss that with my primary-care doctor?”

That is particularly reasonable for women in midlife and beyond, when both mammography and cardiovascular prevention become increasingly important.

At the same time, the absence of BAC should not be interpreted as proof that your heart and arteries are healthy. BAC is not sensitive enough to function as a stand-alone cardiovascular screening test. Women still need routine assessment of blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes risk and other established cardiovascular factors.

The final word

A mammogram is still, first and foremost, a breast-cancer screening tool. But researchers are discovering that the images may contain information about women’s health that extends beyond the breast.

Breast arterial calcification is one of the most intriguing examples.

Finding BAC does not mean you have heart disease. But increasingly, evidence suggests it may be a cardiovascular clue worth knowing about rather than an incidental finding left buried in a radiology image.

Maryland has now decided women should be told when that clue appears. As evidence continues to accumulate, other states and healthcare systems may eventually decide the same.

And that creates a surprisingly useful question to ask after a test millions of women already receive: Did my mammogram show anything about my arteries as well as my breasts?

Reader question: Had you ever heard of breast arterial calcification—or known that a mammogram could reveal information potentially relevant to your heart health?

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