Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2024.63.03-04.24
Lymphoscintigraphy in Lymphedema
Igor Iskra
; Clinical Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Center Rijeka, Croatia
Tatjana Bogović Crnčić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4152-7928
; Clinical Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Center Rijeka, Croatia; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
*
Neva Girotto
orcid.org/0000-0001-5445-3310
; Clinical Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Center Rijeka, Croatia; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Lymphedema is a chronic, progressive condition caused by impaired lymphatic
transport, leading to edema in the lower and/or upper extremities, depending on the underlying cause.
The diagnosis is based on clinical examination, ultrasound findings, and imaging tests. Treatment is
mostly conservative, usually long-term, and often yielding unsatisfactory results. Recently, surgical options
have also become available. Lymphoscintigraphy, a non-invasive and simple nuclear medicine
imaging technique, is considered the method of choice in diagnostic workup. It consists of intracutaneous
or subcutaneous application of colloidal particles labelled with radioactive technetium-99m and
two-dimensional or three-dimensional gamma camera imaging. Lymphoscintigraphy helps differentiate
lymphedema from edema of another origin, assess disease severity, and evaluate surgery outcome. However,
the procedure is not fully standardized, especially in terms of semiquantitative methods, which are
additionally used in disease staging; however, their implementation varies depending on local experience
and expertise.
Keywords
Lymphedema; lymphoscintigraphy; technetium Tc 99m-nanocolloid
Hrčak ID:
333278
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2024.
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