STUDIES ON INDIRECT LYMPHOGRAPHY OF THE RECTUM IN MAN

MM Hares, N Evans, NE Winstone, J Burns

Abstract


No method of assessing the extent of lympha­ tic spread of carcinoma of the colon-pre-ope­ ratively is available, and no satisfactory meth­od of outlining the colonic lymphatics by lymphangiography has been developed. Direct lymphangiography as developed  by Kinmoth (1955) is largely limited to the study of the lymphatic drainage of the limbs and those lymph vessels and nodes which the limb lym­ phatics drain into. This technique is therefore inapplicable for demonstrating the inferior mesenteric lymph chain. This paper describes an attempt to demonstrate  radiographically the inferior mesenteric lymph chain in man by using indirect lymphangiography.

A previous attempt has been made to demon­strate  this lymph chain  radiographically in dogs (2). However, there was poor and incon­stant uptake of the contrast. Nevertheless, we felt that an attempt to develop this method in man could be made since lymphatic system in different species vary in their response to any injected contrast medium (3).


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