Lymphography and the Urologist.

VARIOUS radiological methods of demonstrating lymph vessels and nodes have been utilised in the past. Interstitial injection of thorotrast (Menville and Ane, 1932), and contrast injection into lymph nodes (Bruun and Engeset, 1956), into body cavities (Bennet and Shivas, 1954) and into joint spaces have all resulted in some degree of visualisation of a limited segment of the lymphatic system. Detailed study of the pelvic and abdominal lymph nodes, however, was not possible until Kinmonth (1952) described a practical method of intralymphatic injection. He used a water soluble contrast medium to demonstrate the lymph vessels of the legs in cases of lymphoedema. Such media, however, rapidly diffuse out of the lymphatics and for this reason are not suitable for investigation of retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Oily media are necessary for this purpose and have become standard for lymphography (Wallace, Jackson, Schaffer, Gould, Greening, Weiss and Kramer, 1961; Ruttimann and Del Buono, 1962).