Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue Ultrasonography Features in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema.

Objective

To investigate skin, subepidermal low echogenic band (SELEB), and subcutaneous tissue (SCT) thickness as well as the degree of increase in subcutaneous echogenicity (SEG) and subcutaneous echo-free space (SEFS) in arms with lymphedema (LE). Materials and

Methods

The skin and SCT of both arms of 30 patients with unilateral stage II breast cancer-related LE were scanned at five points (medial/lateral upper arm/forearm and dorsum of the hand). SEG and SEFS grades were determined according to severity (range: 0-2).

Results

All measured parameters, except the SEFS in the medial upper arm, were significantly higher on the LE side than on the normal (N) side. The parameters differed most remarkably in the medial forearm (MFA; skin: LE 1.7 ± 0.8 mm vs. N 0.8 ± 0.2 mm; SELEB: LE 1.0 ± 0.6 mm vs. N 0.3 ± 0.1 mm; SCT: LE 8.7 ± 3.4 mm vs. N 3.8 ± 2.0 mm; SEG: LE 0.9 ± 0.5 vs. N 0.1 ± 0.3; and SEFS: LE 0.5 ± 0.7 vs. N 0).

Conclusion

The differences in the thickness of the skin, SELEB, and SCT and the SEG and SEFS grades between the LE and N arms seemed most evident in the MFA.