Lymphology 12 (I 979) 2- 3

Lymph Flow in Kiyoshi Seki

3rd Dept. Internal Medicine, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan

Summary Clearance rate of subcutaneously injected A little bit of RJSA (0.01 - 0.02 ml) was injected into RJSA was rapid in cardiac, nephrotic and he­ a lymphatic at t11e back of a human foot in supine patic edema and slow in lymphedema (2, 3). and/or sitting position, and U1e radioactivity curves From this it was assumed that lymph flow were obtained at the inguinal and/or at the middle of U1e . Radioactivity curves at the inguinal region was rapid or increased in cardiac edema as in showed stepwise rise with the frequency of about nephrotic and hepatic edema. I /min. in subjects without edema and steep rise without staircase in patients with cardiac edema. ln tissue clearance of RISA, the subjects are Radioactivity curves at the middle of the thigh showed hospitalized and kept in bed as quiet as many spiky waves with the frequency of about 1/min. possible. However, as the observations are in supine subjects without edema, which were increased carried out 2 to 3 days long, effect of the in frequency, duration and/or height in sitting subjects without edema and also in supine and sitting patients movement of the subjects on the lymph flow with cardiac edema. may not be neglibly small. Therefore, it may Therefore, it may be said that there are rhythmic lymph be difficult to compare the results by dye­ Oows in lower leg of subjects without edema and of injection method with those by tissue clearan­ patients with cardiac edema not only in supine but ce of RJSA. also in sitting position, and also that lymphatic contract­ ility plays some role in propelling lymph in human leg. Rl1yth.rnic contractility of lymphatics has been observed in many man1mals since many years McMaster (1) regarded "the streamer" as a ago, but it has been reported only in several measure of lymph flow in skin, which appeared papers (4) in human beings, where it was ob­ in normal subjects in lying position after in­ served visually in operated tissue or by cine­ jecting intradermally very small amount lymphangiography. However, operation or (0.02 ml) of dye. In normal subjects seated infusion of large amount of radiopaque, e. g. quietly with the feet resting on the floor, foreign body, with high pressure may change he could fmd no streamer ill the lower depen­ proper lymph flow or influence the behaviour dent legs. From this he denied the presence of lymphatics very much. Therefore, it seems of lymph flow in the lower dependent legs still obscure, whether rhythmic contractility is and assumed that in man, rhythmic contra cti­ found or not in the experiment under more lity of the lymphatics are not playing an im· physiological condition. Courtice said in his portant role in propelling a lymph in man. book (5) as followings: although some of the He also denied the presence of lymph flow lymphatic vessels in man have been shown to in the extremities of cardiac edema, because exhibit the property of intrinsic rhythmic con­ he could not find any streamers. tractility as an aid in the propulsion of lymph, However, in our experiences, streamers were little is known of the phenomenon in the observed almost always in the dependent lower vessels of the leg either in normal or in abnor· leg of normal subjects and also in most of the mal conditions. lt may be that this activity legs of cardiac edema. Dye-injection method is normally low in man and that it varies in seems to be la cking reproducibility to some different stages of edema caused by congestive extent, may be due to technical difficulty in cardiac failure. injecting dye intradennally under approximately the same pressure as that existing in the tissue, Donini et al·. (6) injected 0,1 ml of RJSA into and also in making the position of needle tip in the lymphatics at the back of a resting human the san1e depth of the skin every time. foot in lying position and recorded radioactivity

0024-7766 1300-0002 S 02.00 © 1979 Georg Thieme Pub I ishers Permission granted for single print for individual use. Reproduction not permitted without permission of Journal LYMPHOLOGY. Lymph Flow in Human Leg 3 at the inguinal region of the same side. He ment, arterial pulse. Injection of RISA into observed stepwise rise of the radioactivity lymphatics •nay initiate lymphatic contrac­ in normal subjects and steep rise without tion, however its amount is about 0.01 ml, staircase in cardiac edema. He postulated from about 1/10 of that of Donini, its effect may this that there may be rhythmic lymph flow be negligible. in normal human leg and rapid, increased b) Cardiac edema. The radioactivity curve at lymph flow in leg of cardiac edema. However, the inguinal region showed steep rise without as the amount of injected RISA was 0.1 rnl, 3 staircase like that of Donini, and the radio­ e. g. 100 mm , its effect on lymph flow or activity curve at the middle of the thigh wall of the lymphatics may not be negligible, showed also many spike waves with increased because diameter of the lymphatics of the height and frequency both in supine and foot used for injection is about 1 mm or sitting position. Almost similar pattern was smaller. observed in renal and hepatic edema. Therefore following experiments were under­ Therefore, it may be said that there is a taken (7, 8). Subjects were those without lymph flow in dependent lower leg of normal edema and with edema of various origin in subjects in sitting position and in the leg of resting supine and sitting position. A little cardiac edema and also that lymphatic con­ bit of RISA (0.01-0.02 rnl) was injected tractility plays some role in propelling lymph into the lymphatics at the back of a foot in human leg. and ·radioactivity was recorded continuously for about 30 to 40 minutes at the inguinal region References or at the middle of the thigh on the same side. The room temperature was 23° to 24° C. McMaster, P.D.: Changes in the cutaenous lympha­ tics of human beings and in the lymph flow under a) Subjects without edema. The radioactivity normal and pathological conditions. J. Exp. Med. curve at the inguinal region showed similar 65 (1937) 347- 372 pattern to that of Donini, e. g. stepwise rise 2 Hollander, W. , P. Reilly, B.A. Burrows: Lymphatic flow on human subject~ as indicated by the disa ppearance in supine position scores of seconds to a few of 131 !-labeled albumin from the subcutaneous minutes after injection of RISA, and the du­ tissue. J. clio. Invest. 40 (1961) 222- 223 ration of the staircase was about one minute. 3 Seki, K., Y. Yamane, A. Shinoura, K. Koide, M. The radioactivity curve at the middle of the Uechi, K. Mori, M. Nagasaka, Y. Yoshitoshi: Experimental and clinical study on the lymph thigh began to rise scores of seconds to a circulation. Am. Heart. J. 75 (1968) 620- 629 few minutes after injection of RISA and after 4 Kinmonth, J.B., G. W. Taylor: Spontaneous arriving the peak fell gradually. Sharp, tall rhythmic contractility in human lymphatics. J. spike waves were superimposed on the curve Physiol., London 133 (1956) 3p at the interval of about one minute in supine 5 Joffey, J.M. , F.C. Courtice: Lymphatics, lymph and lymphomyeloid complex Academ. Press. position. In sitting position, the spike waves London, N.Y., 1970 were higher, wider and more frequent than 6 Battezzati, M., I. Donini: The use of radioisotopes those in supine position. in the study of the physiopathology of the . J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 5 (1964) The stepwise rise in radioactivity at the ingui­ 691 - 693 nal region may be due to rhythmic lymph 7 Seki, K., S. Yabuki, K. Ishida: Investigations with stagnation in the and the radio-labelled molecules in various edemas. Ergeb. d. Angioll2 (1976) 113- 119 rhythmic spike waves may be due to rhythmic 8 Seki, K. : Edema and lymph. Clinical Physiology lymph flow and may also be attributed to 4 (1974) 486- 490; (in Japanese) rhythmic contractility of lymphatics, because they were asynchronous with respiratory move-

K. Seki, 3 Dept. Internal Medicine, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan

Permission granted for single print for individual use. Reproduction not permitted without permission of Journal LYMPHOLOGY.