Reference values of bioelectrical impedance analysis for detecting breast cancer-related lymphedema

Secondary lymphedema is a chronic debilitating lifelong complication and early diagnosis is crucial. The Inbody 720, which is widely used, has no universal index of diagnostic criteria for test results. We aim to determine the normal range, cutoff values, and mean + standard deviation values of extracellular fluid (ECF) and the single frequency bioimpedance (SFBIA) ratios for the diagnosis of lymphedema and suggest the usefulness of these values for detecting lymphedema.Seventy patients with unilateral breast cancer-related lymphedema and 643 healthy subjects were enrolled. All patients with breast cancer underwent surgeries with dissection of lymph nodes. We analyzed the ECF volume, SFBIA at 1- and 5-kHz frequencies using Inbody 720.There were significant differences between patients with BCRL and healthy controls. The…