Limb volume

Effect of Home-Based Exercise and Weight Loss Programs on Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Outcomes Among Overweight Breast Cancer Survivors: The WISER Survivor Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

To our knowledge, no randomized clinical trials have assessed the effects of the combination of weight loss and home-based exercise programs on lymphedema outcomes.

Objective

To assess weight loss, home-based exercise, and the combination of weight loss and home-based exercise with clinical lymphedema outcomes among overweight breast cancer survivors.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This randomized clinical trial (Women in Steady Exercise Research [WISER] Survivor clinical trial ) of 351 overweight breast cancer survivors with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) was conducted in conference rooms at academic and community hospitals and in the homes of participants from March 12, 2012, to May 28, 2016; follow-up was conducted for 1 year from the start of the intervention. Statistical analysis by intention to treat was performed from September 26, 2018, to October 28, 2018.

Interventions

A 52-week, home-based exercise program of strength/resistance training twice per week and 180 minutes of walking per week, a weight loss program of 20 weeks of meal replacements and 52 weeks of lifestyle modification counseling, and a combination of the home-based exercise and weight loss programs.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The 12-month change in the percentage of interlimb volume difference.

Results

Of 351 participants, 90 were randomized to the control group (facility-based lymphedema care with no home-based exercise or weight loss intervention), 87 to the exercise intervention group, 87 to the weight loss intervention group, and 87 to the combined exercise and weight loss intervention group; 218 (62.1%) were white, 122 (34.8%) were black, and 11 (3.1%) were of other races or ethnicities. Median time since breast cancer diagnosis was 6 years (range, 1-29 years). Mean (SD) total upper extremity score changes from the objective clinical evaluation were -1.40 (11.10) in the control group, -2.54 (13.20) in the exercise group, -3.54 (12.88) in the weight loss group, and -3.84 (10.09) in the combined group. Mean (SD) overall upper extremity score changes from the self-report survey were -0.39 (2.33) in the control group, -0.12 (2.14) in the exercise group, -0.57 (2.47) in the weight loss group, and -0.62 (2.38) in the combined group. Weight loss from baseline was -0.55% (95% CI, -2.22% to 1.11%) in the control group, -8.06% (95% CI, -9.82% to 6.29%) in the combined group, -7.37% (95% CI, -8.90% to -5.84%) in the weight loss group, and -0.44% (95% CI, -1.81% to 0.93%) in the exercise group.

Conclusions and Relevance

Study results indicate that weight loss, home-based exercise, and combined interventions did not improve BCRL outcomes; a supervised facility-based program of exercise may be more beneficial than a home-based program for improving lymphedema outcomes.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01515124.

Segmental bioimpedance for measuring amlodipine-induced pedal edema: a placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND

The development of antihypertensives requires efficient and accurate tools for identifying pedal edema. Methodologies used to gauge the potential of an agent to induce pedal edema in short-term (<4-week) clinical trials have not been reported in the literature.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to identify a robust and practical method for measuring drug-induced pedal edema for use in the clinical development of antihypertensives. The efficacy of segmental bioimpedance in the detection of increased pedal edema was compared with that of clinical pitting assessment, ankle circumference, and water displacement volumetry.

METHODS

The study population consisted of male and female healthy subjects and patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension who were otherwise healthy. Participants were randomly assigned to receive amlodipine 10 mg or placebo once daily in this 6-week, double-blind, parallel-group study. Amlodipine was used as a means of inducing ankle edema, and not for the treatment of hypertension. Patients with hypertension were required to undergo a washout of antihypertensive therapies. Edema was evaluated using segmental bioimpedance at 10 kHz, clinical pitting assessment, ankle circumference, and water displacement at weeks 2, 4, and 6. The ANOVA model used included treatment and baseline values as covariates, with treatment pairs compared via t tests derived from the model.

RESULTS

A total of 47 individuals were randomized (49% male; 29 [62%] with hypertension; mean [SD] age, 59 [5.9] years; baseline body mass index, 28.6 kg/m(2) [2.8]; blood pressure 146.6 [10.7]/93.5 [6.5] and 139.3 [8.3]/89.5 [4.5] in individuals with and without hypertension, respectively; amlodipine 10 mg, n = 24; placebo, n = 23). At weeks 2, 4, and 6, statistically significant treatment differences in changes from baseline were detected using water displacement (mean [90% CI] treatment differences, +39.0 g [+17.9 to +60.1], +61.9 g [+36.1 to +87.6], and +72.2 g [+42.3 to +102.1], respectively; all, P ≤ 0.001), ankle circumference (+4.74 mm [+2.38 to +7.11; P < 0.001], +2.92 mm [+0.33 to +5.49; P = 0.032], and +5.16 mm [+2.21 to +8.11; P = 0.002]), and bioimpedance (-11.7 Ω [-18.1 to -5.4], -18.3 Ω [-26.2 to -10.4], and -20.9 Ω [-29.7 to -12.0]; all, P≤0.001), but no significant differences were detected using clinical assessment of pitting.

CONCLUSION

In this population of healthy subjects and patients with hypertension, segmental bioimpedance was comparable to water displacement and ankle circumference and outperformed clinical assessment of pitting for the detection of ankle edema, supporting the use of segmental bioimpedance as a drug-development tool to objectively quantify amlodipine-induced pedal edema.

Edema in the lower limb of patients operated on for proximal femoral fractures

BACKGROUND

Patients with proximal femoral fracture (PFF) often develop postoperative edema in the operated limb. This may lead to reduced mobilization, increasing the length of hospitalization. It is therefore relevant to gain information about the extent and pathogenesis of this edema formation.

METHODS

Forty-one patients with PFF (30 women and 11 men) were studied pre- and postoperatively. Patients were grouped into pertrochanteric fractures and femoral cervical fractures, according to the AO/ASIF classification of PFF. Thigh and calf volumes were calculated in both fractured and contralateral limbs preoperatively and on postoperative days 3, 5, 7, and 30.

RESULTS

All patients with PFF developed edema in the operated limb. The greatest volume increase occurred on postoperative day 7 (p < 0.0005). The magnitude of edema in the thigh and the leg of patients with pertrochanteric fractures as compared with the nonoperative side was approximately twice as great as in those with femoral cervical fractures (p < 0.0001). There was a statistically significant daily increase in the volume of the operative limb as compared with the nonoperative side. Age and sex were not correlated with the extent of edema formation. Functionally significant deep venous thrombosis and local infection could be excluded as causative factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative edema in the thigh and leg of the operated limb was considerable. The magnitude of edema formation was related to the severity of primary trauma and the type of osteosynthesis. Therefore, the operation performed for PFF should be minimally traumatic.

Heterogeneous effect of calcium antagonists on leg oedema: a comparison of amlodipine versus lercanidipine in hypertensive patients

AIMS

To compare the effect of amlodipine, a prototype dihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker with lercanidipine, a newer dihydropyridine compound with lipophilic properties, on dependent oedema generation and interference with skin blood flow vasomotion in hypertensive patients.

DESIGN

Single-blind, sequence-randomized, cross-over comparison of amlodipine and lercanidipine. Drugs were given at equipotent doses (10 mg daily and 20 mg daily, respectively) in 22 never-treated mild-to-moderate hypertensive men (age: 48 +/- 5 years). Each treatment was administered for 2 weeks with a 2-week intervening period to restore baseline values.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Dependent oedema formation was quantified through leg weight changes (water displacement method). Blood pressure (the mean of at least 10 determinations) was recorded by an automated oscillometric device and skin blood flow (laser Doppler flowmetry) measured at the dorsum of the foot, both supine and with the limb passively placed 50 cm below the heart level, to evaluate the behaviour of cutaneous postural vasoconstriction, an autoregulatory mechanism that minimizes gravitational increases in capillary pressure and avoids fluid extravasation when standing.

RESULTS

Leg weight was increased by both drugs, but the increase was significantly greater during treatment with amlodipine than with lercanidipine. Blood pressure decreased to a similar extent and postural vasoconstriction was antagonized comparably during both treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

The oedema-forming potential of amlodipine is greater than that induced by lercanidipine, a difference which emerged in the presence of a comparable drop in blood pressure and could not be attributed to interference with postural vasoconstrictor mechanisms.

Oedema in the lower limb of patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia (CLI)

OBJECTIVE

approximately 70% of patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia (CLI) show clinical signs of oedema in the distal leg and foot. The primary aim of the present investigation was to quantify this oedema. In addition we investigated whether oedema formation could be due to deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

METHODS

fifteen patients with unilateral CLI and oedema were studied, four males and 11 females, with a mean age of 77+/-10.3 years. Water displacement volumetry (WDV) was used to measure limb volume. Colour duplex ultrasound (CDU) and venous occlusion plethysmography (VOP) were applied to exclude functionally significant DVT. Blood chemistry was analysed to screen for some causative factors of generalised oedema formation.

RESULTS

the mean volume of the limbs with CLI was 9% greater than the contralateral limbs (1279+/-325 ml vs. 1179+/-298 ml). None of the patients had functionally significant DVT. The mean plasma albumin concentration was reduced at 28.5+/-6.6 g/l.

CONCLUSION

a significantly reduced plasma albumin concentration cannot be regarded as a causative factor, since the oedema is unilateral. The aetiology of oedema formation is probably multifactorial, and further investigations are under progress to elucidate relevant pathogenetic factors.