AI Article Synopsis
- Shoulder and arm issues are common after breast cancer surgery and radiation, but there's limited knowledge on problems occurring in the opposite (contralateral) arm.
- A study with 118 women examined changes in arm volume and shoulder mobility before and after radiation therapy, finding significant correlations between the arms.
- Findings show that factors like weight gain and certain treatments contribute to arm mobility loss, highlighting the need for more research on early contralateral arm complications.
Article Abstract
Introduction: Shoulder/arm morbidity is a common complication of breast cancer surgery and radiotherapy (RT), but little is known about acute contralateral morbidity.
Methods: Patients were 118 women enrolled in a RT trial. Arm volume and shoulder mobility were assessed before and 1-3 months after RT. Correlations and linear regression were used to analyze changes affecting ipsilateral and contralateral arms, and changes affecting relative interlimb differences (RID).
Results: Changes affecting one limb correlated with changes affecting the other limb. Arm volume between the two limbs correlated (R = 0.57). Risk factors were weight increase and axillary dissection. Contralateral and ipsilateral loss of abduction strongly correlated (R = 0.78). Changes of combined RID exceeding 10% affected the ipsilateral limb in 25% of patients, and the contralateral limb in 18%. Aromatase inhibitor therapy was significantly associated with contralateral loss of abduction.
Conclusions: High incidence of early contralateral arm morbidity warrants further investigations.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3418149 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/BCBCR.S9362 | DOI Listing |
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