Level A· Stronger Clinical EvidenceSystematic ReviewPubMedOpen access

Lymphoscintigraphy for Evaluation of Lymphedema Treatment: A Systematic Review.

Forte AJ., Boczar D., Huayllani MT., Lu X., Ciudad P.

Systematic Review with a reported sample of 327, published in Cureus (2019) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

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Level A· Stronger Clinical EvidenceEvidence level of this study

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
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This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Systematic Review
Journal
Cureus (2019)
Country
United States
Reported sample size
327
Source database
PubMed
PMID
31886094
PMCID
PMC6907718
DOI
10.7759/cureus.6363
Citations
12

Abstract (original English)

Lymphoscintigraphy is a well-established radiologic examination to evaluate lymphatic function. We conducted a systematic review of the use of lymphoscintigraphy for evaluation of lymphedema treatment. We hypothesized that this radiologic examination could add relevant findings of treatment outcomes of lymphedema patients. We conducted a systematic review of articles in PubMed, without any time frame or language limitations, about the use of lymphoscintigraphy for the evaluation of lymphedema treatment. Articles were excluded if they investigated other uses of lymphoscintigraphy, such as diagnosis or prevention of lymphedema. Abstracts, presentations, reviews, and meta-analyses were also excluded. Of 101 potential articles found in the literature, 5 fulfilled our study eligibility criteria, and they were all case series. These articles included a total of 327 patients, most of whom had breast cancer-related lymphedema. Interventions included lymph node or vessel transfer (3 of 5 articles), complex decongestive therapy (1 of 5), and adipose-derived stem cell injection (1 of 5). The authors of these studies used lymphoscintigraphy to investigate the treatment functional outcomes, prognostic value, and complications. Lymphoscintigraphy detected lymphangiogenesis in transferred lymph nodes, and it was able to predict patient response to complex decongestive therapy. Studies that us

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.

Evidence level

Relatively higher-quality human studies compared with other topics in this database, e.g. multiple RCTs or systematic reviews. This does not mean it is standard or approved care.

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