Surgical methods have been widely used in the past to treat patients with congential lymphedema. There are only scant data in recent literature about the long-term outcome of these mostly historical methods. On the other hand, the subject is not only of interest to those concerned with the history of medicine but also may raise a couple of questions about treating such patients today. The authors report on a 77-year-old female patient with congential lymphedema with a 50-year follow-up after lymphedema resection and focus on practical problems of bandaging today.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
1. Szuba A, Rockson SG. Lymphedema: classification, diagnosis and therapy . Vasc Med1998;3: 145-156 .
2.
2. Lazareth I. Classification of lymphedema [in French]. Rev Med Interne2002;23(suppl 3): 375s-378s .
3.
3. Földi M, Kubik S.Lehrbuch der Lymphologie. 5th ed. München, Jena, Germany: Urban & Fischer Verlag ; 2002.
4.
4. Milroy WF. An undescribed variety of hereditary edema . NY Med J1982;56: 505-508 .
5.
5. Evans AL, Brice G, Sotirova V, et al. Mapping of primary congenital lyphedema to the 5q35.3 region . Am J Hum Genet1999;64: 547-555 .
6.
6. Karkkainen MJ, Saaristo A, Jussila KA, et al. A model for gene therapy of human hereditary lymphedema . Proc Nat Acad Sci U S A2001;98: 12677-12682 .
7.
7. Saaristo A, Karkkainen MJ, Alitalo K. Insights into the molecular pathogenesis and targeted treatment of lymphedema . Ann NY Acad Sci2002;979: 94-110 .
8.
8. Ferrell RE. Research perspectives in inherited lymphatic disease . Ann NY Acad Sci2002;979: 39-51 .
9.
9. Földi E. The treatment of lymphedema . Cancer1998;83(suppl 12): 2833-2834 .
10.
10. Földi E, Sauerwald A, Hennig B. Effect of complex decongestive physiotherapy on gene expression for the inflammatory response in peripheral lymphedema . Lymphology2000;33: 19-23 .
11.
11. Brunner U. Das Lymphödem der unteren Extremitäten. Bern, Switzerland: Verlag Hans Huber ; 1969.
12.
12. Kirschner H, Schuchardt K, Scriba K. Zur chirurgischen Behandlung und Pathologie der Elephantiasis der unteren Extremitäten . Chirurg1955;26: 512-522 .
13.
13. Baumeister RGH. Mikrochirurgie des Lymphgefäßsystems . Chirurg1982;54: 374-378 .
14.
14. Ellison DA, Hayes L, Lane C, Tracey A, McCollum CN. Evaluating the cost and efficacy of leg ulcer care provided in large UK health authorities . J Wound Care2002;11: 47-51 .
15.
15. Inlow S, Orsted H, Sibbald RG. Best practices for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers . Ostomy Wound Manage2000;46: 55-68 .
