Quantitative Lymphoscintigraphy to Predict the Possibility of Lymphedema Development After Breast Cancer Surgery: Retrospective Clinical Study
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
;
: 1065-1075, 2017.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-11661
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To predict the probability of lymphedema development in breast cancer patients in the early post-operation stage, we investigated the ability of quantitative lymphoscintigraphic assessment.METHODS:
This retrospective study included 201 patients without lymphedema after unilateral breast cancer surgery. Lymphoscintigraphy was performed between 4 and 8 weeks after surgery to evaluate the lymphatic system in the early postoperative stage. Quantitative lymphoscintigraphy was performed using fourmethods:
ratio of radiopharmaceutical clearance rate of the affected to normal hand; ratio of radioactivity of the affected to normal hand; ratio of radiopharmaceutical uptake rate of the affected to normal axilla (RUA); and ratio of radioactivity of the affected to normal axilla (RRA). During a 1-year follow-up, patients with a circumferential interlimb difference of 2 cm at any measurement location and a 200-mL interlimb volume difference were diagnosed with lymphedema. We investigated the difference in quantitative lymphoscintigraphic assessment between the non-lymphedema and lymphedema groups.RESULTS:
Quantitative lymphoscintigraphic assessment revealed that the RUA and RRA were significantly lower in the lymphedema group than in the non-lymphedema group. After adjusting the model for all significant variables (body mass index, N-stage, T-stage, type of surgery, and type of lymph node surgery), RRA was associated with lymphedema (odds ratio=0.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.04–0.46; p=0.001).CONCLUSION:
In patients in the early postoperative stage after unilateral breast cancer surgery, quantitative lymphoscintigraphic assessment can be used to predict the probability of developing lymphedema.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Radioactivity
/
Axilla
/
Breast
/
Breast Neoplasms
/
Retrospective Studies
/
Follow-Up Studies
/
Lymphoscintigraphy
/
Unilateral Breast Neoplasms
/
Clinical Study
/
Hand
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
Year:
2017
Type:
Article
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