Premium
Prognostic value of lymphoscintigraphy in patients with gynecological cancer‐related lymphedema
Author(s) -
Yoo Jang,
Choi Joon Young,
Hwang Ji Hye,
Kim Dong Ik,
Kim Young Wook,
Choe Yearn Seong,
Lee KyungHan,
Kim ByungTae
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.23588
Subject(s) - medicine , lymphedema , lymphatic system , exact test , stage (stratigraphy) , univariate analysis , logistic regression , multivariate analysis , cancer , breast cancer , surgery , pathology , paleontology , biology
Background and Objectives We investigated the prognostic value of qualitative lymphoscintigraphy in gynecological cancer‐related lymphedema, which is a common complication after treatment. Methods All 152 patients underwent 99m Tc tin‐colloid lymphoscintigraphy before complex decongestive therapy (CDT). We analyzed the uptake patterns of the inguinal lymph nodes, main lymphatic vessel and collateral lymphatic vessels, as well as dermal back flow. We compared these lymphoscintigraphic findings and other clinical variables between good and poor therapeutic responders using Pearson's Chi‐squared test, Fisher's exact test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Eighty‐nine patients (58.6%) had a poor therapeutic response to CDT. In univariate analysis, there were significant differences between good and poor responders in clinical stage ( P < 0.001), therapy compliance ( P < 0.001), main lymphatic vessel uptake pattern ( P < 0.01), collateral lymphatic vessel uptake pattern ( P < 0.01) and severity of dermal back flow ( P < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, only severity of dermal back flow ( P < 0.005), clinical stage ( P < 0.05) and therapy compliance ( P < 0.001) were found to be independent predictors of therapeutic response. Conclusions Lymphoscintigraphy may be useful to predict the outcome of patients with gynecological cancer‐related lymphedema undergoing CDT along with clinical stage and compliance. J. Surg. Oncol. 2014 109:760–763 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.