Clinical nuclear medicine
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Jul 1986
Case ReportsLymphoscintigraphy in patients with lymphedema. A new approach using intradermal injections of technetium-99m human serum albumin.
Forty cases were examined by a new lymphoscintigraphic approach using intradermal injections of Tc-99m human serum albumin (HSA). Thirty-three patients had lymphedema due to the metastases of a malignant tumor and/or the dissection of lymph nodes. The others were control patients without lymphedema. ⋯ These abnormalities were observed in a high percentage of patients with moderate lymphedema, as compared with a low percentage of patients with slight lymphedema. The collateral pathways could not be observed in patients with severe lymphedema. Imaging with Tc-99m HSA was considered to be more useful than other techniques, including radiocolloid lymphoscintigraphy, for examining patients with lymphedema.