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Lipedema and Dercum's Disease: A New Application of Bioimpedance

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Lipedema and Dercum's Disease: A New Application of Bioimpedance
Abstract
Background: Lipedema and Dercum's disease (DD) are incompletely characterized adipose tissue diseases, and objective measures of disease profiles are needed to aid in differential diagnosis. We hypothesized that fluid properties, quantified as tissue water bioimpedance in the upper and lower extremities, differ regionally between these conditions. Methods and Results: Women (cumulative n = 156) with lipedema (n = 110), DD (n = 25), or without an adipose disease matched for age and body mass index to early stage lipedema patients (i.e., controls n = 21) were enrolled. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) was applied to measure impedance values in the arms and legs, indicative of extracellular water levels. Impedance values were recorded for each limb, as well as the leg-to-arm impedance ratio. Regression models were applied to evaluate hypothesized relationships between impedance and clinical indicators of disease (significance criteria: two-sided p < 0.05). Higher extracellular water was indicated (i) in the legs of patients with higher compared with lower stages of lipedema (p = 0.03), (ii) in the leg-to-arm impedance ratio in patients with lipedema compared with patients with DD (p ≤ 0.001), and (iii) in the leg-to-arm impedance ratio in patients with stage 1 lipedema compared with controls (p ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: BIS is a noninvasive portable modality to assess tissue water, and this device is available in both specialized and nonspecialized centers. These findings support that regional bioimpedance measures may help to distinguish lipedema from DD, as well as to identify early stages of lipedema.
Publication
Lymphatic Research and Biology
Volume
17
Issue
6
Pages
671-679
Date
2019/12
Journal Abbr
Lymphat Res Biol
Language
eng
ISSN
1557-8585
Short Title
Lipedema and Dercum's Disease
Library Catalog
PubMed
Extra
FDRS Conference Research
Lipedema Foundation Award
LF12
Citation
Crescenzi, R., Donahue, P. M. C., Weakley, S., Garza, M., Donahue, M. J., & Herbst, K. L. (2019). Lipedema and Dercum’s Disease: A New Application of Bioimpedance. Lymphatic Research and Biology, 17(6), 671–679. https://doi.org/10.1089/lrb.2019.0011
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