Sodium-24 studies in postmastectomy lymphedema

Seven patients were studied with 24Na to determine the relative disappearance time of the isotope from the postmastectomy lymphedematous arm as compared to the normal side. The results tend to confirm previously held convictions that the edema is usually confined to the subcutaneous fat and skin. The disappearance time (T1/2) of the radioactive sodium from the muscle of the edematous side was usually comparable to that of the control side. The data also indicate that the impairment of fluid drainage from other areas, such as the lateral chest wall, that normally drain into the axilla, is impaired similarly to that of the subcutaneous fat of the arm. Operative procedures designed to relieve the edema of the arm by providing an alternate route of drainage should provide a conduit for the fluid to an area that does not normally drain to the axilla of the affected side