Efficacy of ANTISTAX in treatment of postmastectomic oedema of the upper limb.

2012

[Article in Russian]

Miasnikova MO.

Source

Chair of Faculty Surgery St. Petersburg State Medical University named after Academician I.P. Pavlov, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Abstract

Analysed herein are the results of two-year treatment with Antistax of 50 female patients presenting with early stages of upper limb lymphedema (the 'preclinical' stage of 'transient' oedemas, mild-oedema stage). The control group consisted of patients who due to various circumstances received no regular treatment with agents decreasing limb oedema, including diuretics. The obtained results demonstrated undoubted efficacy of Antistax administered at early stages of postmastectomic lymphedema. Preventive administration of the agent makes it possible to delay and in the majority of cases to also prevent the development of lymphedema. 

Administration of Antistax in a combination with physiotherapeutic treatment makes it possible both in the first and second stages of the disease to preserve the cosmetic and functional state of the upper limb.

PubMed

The Incidence of Arm Edema in Women with Breast Cancer

The Incidence of Arm Edema in Women with Breast Cancer

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Oct 27

Deutsch M, Land S, Begovic M, Sharif S.
National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Operations and Biostatistical Centers, Pittsburgh, PA; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Pittsburgh, PA.

PURPOSE: To determine the incidence and factors associated with the development of arm edema in women who participated in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) study B-04.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 1971 and 1974, the NSABP protocol B-04 randomized 1,665 eligible patients with resectable breast cancer to either (1) the Halstead-type radical mastectomy; (2) total mastectomy and radiotherapy to the chest wall, axilla, supraclavicular region, and internal mammary nodes if by clinical examination axillary nodes were involved by tumor; and (3) for patients with a clinically uninvolved axilla, a third arm, total mastectomy alone. Measurements of the ipsilateral and contralateral arm circumferences were to be performed every 3 months.

RESULTS: There was at least one recorded measurement of arm circumferences for 1,457 patients (87.5% of eligible patients). There were 674 women (46.3%) who experienced arm edema at some point during the period of follow-up until February 1976. For radical mastectomy patients, total mastectomy and radiotherapy patients, and total mastectomy patients alone, arm edema was recorded at least once in 58.1%, 38.2%, and 39.1% of patients, respectively (p < .001) and at last recorded measurement in 30.7%, 14.8%, and 15.5%, respectively (p = <.001). Increasing body mass index (BMI) also showed a statistically significant correlation with arm edema at any time (p = .001) and at last assessment (p = .005).

CONCLUSIONS: Patients who undergo mastectomy, including those whose treatment plans do not include axillary dissection or postoperative radiotherapy, suffer an appreciable incidence of arm edema.

PMID: 18029105 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

See also:

Arm or Leg Swelling After Cancer

Complications of Breast Cancer Radiotherapy

Lymphedema After Cancer - How Serious Is It?

Linear morphea presenting as acquired unilateral edema.

Linear morphea presenting as acquired unilateral edema.

Pediatr Dermatol. 2007 Mar-Apr

Fiala KH,
Wells MJ,
Mullinax KA,
Stetson CL,
Paulger BR.
Department of Dermatology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA.

We describe a 2-year-old African-American boy with a 4-month history of gradually worsening unilateral edema that was initially noted on his left hand and then approximately 2 weeks later on his left lower extremity. In addition, linear hypopigmented patches were noted along the left forearm and leg, with no appreciable scarring or induration. The edema on the left-hand side of his body progressed so that he developed tense bullae on his left hand.

Two months later, the hypopigmented patches were indurated and bound-down, especially over the left groin and thigh. A biopsy specimen from this area showed features characteristic of morphea. In this patient, dilated lymphatic channels secondary to the sclerosis of the morphea caused the bullae. Bullous morphea is a rare condition.

We were unable to find any reports its occurrence in children under 18 with associated lymphedema. This entity should be included in the differential for acquired unilateral edema in children.

PMID: 17461812 [PubMed - in process]

Breast cancer presenting as unilateral arm edema.

Breast cancer presenting as unilateral arm edema.
J Gen Intern Med. 2007 May

Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.

CONTEXT: Symptomatic arm lymphedema as the presenting symptom of invasive breast carcinoma is a rare occurrence.

DESIGN: We report a case of invasive breast cancer presenting with unilateral arm swelling. The patient was initially thought to have venous thrombosis. A thorough physical examination and a mammogram revealed the presence of breast cancer and associated subclinical axillary lymphadenopathy.

CONCLUSION: Failure to recognize this presentation can lead to misdiagnosis or a significant delay in diagnosis and treatment.

PMID: 17443377 [PubMed - in process]