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Breast cancer: predicting lymphoedema and quality of life deficits after axillary surgery

Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) alone is insufficient for screening and diagnosing lymphoedema, finds research led by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

The prospective, multi-centre study compared pre- and post-surgery axillary clearance (ANC) with multi-frequency BIS vs arm volume measurement in 1100 patients with breast cancer. Relative arm volume increase (RAVI) >10% diagnosed lymphoedema.

Lymphoedema was diagnosed in 22.8% of women using RAVI > 10%, 45.6% using BIS criteria. One in four underwent compression sleeve application by 24 months. BMI >30 mmHg was an independent factor for both development (P=0.005) and progression (P=0.015) of lymphoedema. Progression to moderate lymphoedema occurred in 15% of patients after sleeve application.

Presenting the findings in the British Journal of Cancer, the authors concluded that RAVI was the best diagnostic tool for lymphoedema. BIS alone is not appropriate for lymphoedema screening or diagnosis, they said.


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