title: Whole-body bioelectrical impedance analysis in assessing upper-limb lymphedema after breast cancer therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate single-frequency whole-body bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as a predictor for the onset of edema of the upper limb in patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Whole-body BIA was performed before surgery, as well as at two days, and one, three, six and twelve months after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty women undergoing breast cancer surgery were examined, with loss of follow-up of 18 patients. Seven patients (14.3%) developed an edema of the upper limb within the first 12 months after surgery. Resistance (R) using whole-body BIA showed a fairly good performance in terms of sensitivity (85.71%) and specificity (97.4%) at predicting edema. The positive predictive value of 54.6% was unsatisfactory, whereas the negative predictive value was 97.4%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resistance in whole-body BIA can be used to rule-out a developing edema of the upper limb.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, D-68167 Mannheim, Germany. sebastian.berlit@umm.de.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berlit
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brade
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tuschy
authors.forename: Amadeus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hornemann
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leweling
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eghardt
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sütterlin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008209:Lymphedema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Single-frequency bioelectrical impedance; breast cancer; lymphedema of the upper limb