• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.170-176
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• 2013

Lymphedema is a phenomenon in which fluid is accumulated inside tissues due to the damaged lymphatic systems. Lymphedema can cause complications such as lymphangitis, infection, changes in skin texture, fibrosis, and lymphangiosarcoma. In this study, a lymphedema screening system based on the elasticity of the skin is proposed to easily quantify lymphedema. The developed probe consists of touch sensors, a load cell and hall-effect sensors to measure the indentation force on the skin and the return time of the skin. The developed system can be used to estimate the change in the elasticity of the skin to quantify lymphedema. The system was tested with a thyroid phantom and gelatin phantoms of different concentrations and the resulting force and the time were recorded. It was found that the increase in the elasticity leads to a higher indentation force and shorter return time. This shows that the developed system can monitor the change in the skin elasticity by measuring the return time and the indentation force. The feasibility of the system in clinical applications will be evaluated in the future study.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.450-454
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• 2002

A five-year-old, female Great Dane dog with edema, localized trauma, mild pain, and lameness of the right hind limb was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Chungbuk National University. This dog had a history of mammary tumor excisions 6 months ago. Abnormal changes were not seen in the values of complete blood count and serum biochemical tests. But pedal direct lymphangiography using aqueous-based radiographic agent showed the obstructed lymph flow in right popliteal lymph node. Based on these observations, the dog was suspected as lymphedema resulted from lymph drainage flilure without any other possibilities of inflammation or other causes. Although recommended chemotherapy and physiotherapy had been applied for resolvinr presented problems for one month, there was no improvement on edema of damaged region and any other clinical signs. Therefore, the necropsy was performed after euthanasia under agreement of the owner of patient. In histopatholofical examination, the most characteristic lesions in the mass of femoral region were diffuse edema fibrosis and neoplastic cells in the lymphatics. Also, the neoplastic cells were very similar to those found in the tumor mass of mammary gland, which had diagnosed as fibrosing carcinoma. These facts suggested that the cause of obstructed lymph flow was the neoplasia in lymphatics of the right hind limb. With these results, a diagnosis of malignant lymphedema was made in this dog.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.899-902
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• 2011

Purpose: Lymphedema of the scrotum and penis is a functionally and emotionally incapacitating problem for patients. Patients suffer pain from swelling, chronic irritation, repeated infections, drainage, and sexual dysfunction. Although there are various methods for the treatment of scrotal and penial lymphedema, achieving a satisfactory reconstruction in severe cases still remains a challenge due to the lack of locally available tissue. Methods: A 33-year-old man sustained severe lymphedema of the scrotum and penis. He reported a history of swelling since 25 years, which had been intensified during the past few months. There was no history of irritation, surgery, trauma, infection or travel to endemic countries. The authors reconstructed the scrotum and penis using 4 scrotal flaps made by incising the enlarged scrotum crucially. Results: The postoperative course was uneventful. Histopathologic examination showed nonspecific chronic inflammation. The patient was followed up for 18 months and a good reconstructive result was obtained with no recurrence. Conclusion: The authors' method is safe and easy to perform. This method may be a convenient and reliable alternative for the treatment of severe lymphedema of the scrotum and penis.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.615-620
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• 2023

Massive localized lymphedema (MLL) is a rare disease caused by the obstruction of lymphatic vessels with specific clinical morphological and radiological characteristics. People with morbid obesity are mainly affected by MLL. Lymphedema is easily confused with soft tissue sarcoma and requires differential diagnosis, both the possibility of an MLL and also carcinoma manifestations in the soft tissues. The possible causes of massive lymphedema include trauma, surgery, and hypothyroidism. This report is the first case of MLL treated surgically in the Russian Federation. Detailed computed tomography (CT) characteristics and an electron microscope picture of MLL are discussed. A 50-year-old woman (body mass index of 43 kg/m²) with MLL arising from the anterior abdominal wall was admitted to the hospital for surgical treatment. Its mass was 22.16 kg. A morphological study of the resected mass confirmed the diagnosis of MLL. We review etiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of MLL. We also performed an electron-microscopic study that revealed interstitial Cajal-like cells telocytes not previously described in MLL cases. We did not find similar findings in the literature. It is possible that the conduction of an ultrastructural examination of MLL tissue samples will further contribute to the understanding of MLL pathogenesis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.32-42
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• 2005

Purpose : To evaluate the incidence of arm morbidity following breast cancer surgery including axillary dissection and to identify related factors. Materials and Methods : One hundred and fifty nine patients were studied using a self-report questionnaire and a clinical examination. Lymphedema, reduction of range of motion in shoulder joint and subjective symptoms (pain, impaired arm movement, numbness, stiffness) were evaluated. As related factors, demographic, oncologic characteristics and types of treatment were analysed. Results : The incidence of lymphedema ($\geqq$2 cm difference comparing to unaffected arm) was $6.3\%$, $10.7\%$, $22.5\%$ and $23.3\%$ at each 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm, and 40 cm from wrist. Reduction of range of motion in shoulder joint ($\geqq$ 20 degree difference comparing to unaffected arm) was noted In more than 1/3 patients for flexion, abduction and internal rotation. Especially the reduction of range of motion in internal rotation was severe ($>50\%$ reduction) in 1/3 patients. Approximately 50 to $60\%$ of patients complained impaired arm movement, numbness, stiffness and pain. Body mass index (BMI) was the significant risk factor for lymphedema. Conclusion : Lymphedema was present in 1/3 of patients and the common sites of edema were 30 cm 40 cm proximal from the wrist. Also most severe reduction of range of motion in shoulder joint was with internal rotation. There needs weight control for lymphedema because BMI was the significant risk factor for lymphedema. Also rehabilitation program for range of motion especially internal rotation In shoulder joint should be developed.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.76-82
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• 2011

Purpose: Lymphoscintigraphy is absolutely being used standard examination in lymphatic diagnosis, evaluation after treatment, and it is useful for lymphedema to plan therapy. In case of lymphoscintigraphy of lower-extremity lymphedema, it had an effect on results if patients had not pose same position on the examination of 1 min, 1 hour and 2 hours after injection. So we'll study the methods to improve confidence with minimized quantitative analysis errors by influence factors. Materials and Methods: Being used the Infinia of GE Co. we injected $^{99m}Tc$-phytate 37 MBq (1.0 mCi) 4 sylinges into 40 people's feet hypodermically from June to August 2010 in Samsung Medical Center. After we acquired images of fixed and unfixed condition, we confirmed the count values change by attenuation of soft tissue and bone according to different feet position. And we estimated 5 times increasing 2 cm of distance between $^{99m}Tc$ point source and detector each time to check counts difference according to distance change by different feet position. Finally, we compared 1 and 6 min lymphoscintigraphy images with same position to check the effect of quantitative analysis results owing to difference of amounts of movement of the $^{99m}Tc$-phytate in the lymphatic duct. Results: Percentage difference regarding error values showed minimum 2.7% and maximum 25.8% when comparing fixed and unfixed feet position of lymphoscintigraphy examination at 1 min after injection. And count values according to distance were 173,661 (2 cm), 172,095 (4 cm), 170,996 (6 cm), 167,677 (8 cm), 169,208 counts (10 cm) which distance was increased interval of 2 cm and basal value was mean 176,587 counts, and percentage difference values were not over 2.5% such as 1.27, 1.79, 2.04, 2.42, 2.35%. Also, Assessment results about amounts of movement in lymphatic duct within 6 min until scanning after injection showed minimum 0.15%, and maximum 2.3% which were amounts of movement. We can recognize that error values represent over 20% due to only attenuation of soft tissue and bone except for distance difference (2.42%) and amounts of movement in lymphatic duct (2.3%). Conclusion: It was show that if same patients posed different feet position on the examination of 1 min, 1 hour and 2 hours after injection in the lymphoscintigraphy which is evaluating lymphatic flow of patients with lymphedema and analyzing amount of intake by lymphatic system, maximum error value represented 25.8% due to attenuation of soft tissue and bone, and PASW (Predictive Analytics Software) showed that fixed and unfixed feet position was different each other. And difference of distance between detector and feet and change of count values by difference of examination beginning time after injection influence on quantitative analysis results partially. Therefore, we'll make an effort to fix feet position and make the most of fixing board in lymphoscintigraphy with quantitative analysis.