Abstract
Background: Tissue dielectric constant (TDC), as an index of local tissue water, and girth measurements are quantitative methods to measure and characterize lymphedema. Objective: To describe the spatial and temporal variability in arm girth and TDC values in women surgically treated for breast cancer and to describe the relationship between these measures. Methods and Results: This was a prospective longitudinal study that observed 36 women for 78 weeks after breast cancer surgery with lymph node removal. Arm circumferences and TDC values, as indices of local tissue water, were measured on both arms at multiple sites at postsurgery weeks 2, 4, 12, and 78 in women undergoing surgical breast cancer treatment with one or more axillary lymph nodes removed. TDC and girth values remained relatively uniform from visit-to-visit for both at-risk and contralateral control arms with no overall statistically significant difference in values (p > 0.05). There was a strong inverse correlation between arm girth and the TDC value in both the at-risk and control arms (p < 0.001). Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in TDC interarm ratios among visits or anatomical sites. TDC values for at-risk and control arms tended to significantly decrease with increasing distance from the wrist (p < 0.001). Conclusion: TDC arm values and girth measures remained relatively uniform in women after breast cancer surgery. The fact that TDC values are higher distally than proximally provides new information from which TDC measurements may be interpreted and also provides a better understanding of arm spatial variability in relation to girth measures.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 308-315 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Lymphatic Research and Biology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This project was supported, in part, by the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship and NIH P30 CA77598 utilizing the Masonic Cancer Center and University of Minnesota share resources. The authors would like to thank Mackenzie Dwyer for her help in preparing the article, and give a very special thanks to all the generous patients who participated in the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019.
Keywords
- TDC
- breast
- girth measures
- lymphedema
- tissue dielectric constant