Maryland has become the first state to require mammography centers to notify patients when their scans show breast arterial calcification, which has been linked to elevated cardiovascular risk.
The requirement took effect Oct. 1 and requires centers to tell patients whether breast arterial calcification was detected. The notification is provided at no additional cost and indicates whether calcification is present but does not specify its severity.
Breast arterial calcification has been associated with elevated cardiovascular risk, and larger studies using AI have linked the finding to heart failure, heart attack and stroke. Some imaging centers use FDA-cleared AI to identify the calcifications.
The measure is intended to give patients information that could inform conversations about cardiovascular risk.
