Fig 1.
Search strategy flowchart.
Table 1.
Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.
Table 2.
Studies that have visually graded BAC severity and examined the association of BAC severity and CAD.
Fig 2.
Forest plot analysis of breast arterial calcification (BAC) and coronary artery disease (CAD).
Fig 2A shows the association of BAC and CAD when stratified based on study design. Fig 2B shows the association of BAC and CAD when stratified based on modality of determining CAD. The blue line separates cross sectional and cohort studies. (CT: computed tomography; CAG: coronary angiography.
Fig 3.
Forest plot analysis of breast arterial calcification (BAC) and coronary artery disease (CAD) based on BAC severity.
Fig 3A and 3B shows the association of BAC and CAD using the 4 point scale system. Fig 3C and 3D shows the association of BAC and CAD using the 12 point scale system. Fig 3A and 3C are the forest plot analysis for mild BAC and CAD and Fig 3B and 3D for moderate to severe BAC and CAD.
Fig 4.
Forest plots of associations of breast arterial calcification with cardiovascular risk factors.
Odds ratios are shown for studies reporting data on hypertension (Fig 4A), diabetes mellitus (Fig 4B), hypercholesterolemia (Fig 4C) and smoking (Fig 4D). The blue line separates cross sectional and cohort studies.