OBJECTIVE Lymphoedema is a common sequela of cancer or its treatment that affects lymph node drainage. The physiotherapist, as member of the multiprofessional team in palliative care, is one of the keys to successful rehabilitation and management of patients with cancer and non-malignant motoneuron disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and palliative care needs. The aim of the study was...

Lymphatic remodeling in tumor microenvironments correlates with progression and metastasis, and local lymphatic vessels play complex and poorly understood roles in tumor immunity. Tumor lymphangiogenesis is associated with increased immune suppression, yet lymphatic vessels are required for fluid drainage and immune cell trafficking to lymph nodes, where adaptive immune responses are mounted. H...

OBJECTIVE In ovarian cancer, detection of sentinel nodes is an upcoming procedure. Perioperative determination of the patient's sentinel node(s) might prevent a radical lymphadenectomy and associated morbidity. It is essential to understand the lymphatic drainage pathways of the ovaries, which are surprisingly up till now poorly investigated, to predict the anatomical regions where sentinel nod...

BACKGROUND There are very little scientific data on occlusion pressure for superficial lymphatic collectors. Given its importance in determining the transport capacity of lymphatic vessels, it is crucial to know its value. The novel method of near-infrared fluorescence lymphatic imaging (NIRFLI) can be used to visualize lymphatic flow in real time. The goal of this study was to see if this meth...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate discordancy between clinical predictions and lymphatic drainage patterns of primary cutaneous melanoma as determined by preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative lymphatic mapping of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). DESIGN Before selective SLN dissection, 226 consecutive patients with melanoma underwent preoperative lymphoscintigraphy. SETTING Teaching hospital te...

Erysipelas (cellulitis/lymphangitis) is a superficial cutaneous infection spread by the lymphatic system which may result in permanent injury to the lymphatic vessels. The study evaluated the lymphatic drainage in the lower limbs of 30 patients with at least two episodes of erysipelas by means of lymphoscintigraphy. Twenty-two (73%) were female and 8 (27%) were male with ages ranging from 26 to...

TO THE EDITOR: I read with interest the continuing education article by Uren et al. (1) stating that clinical prediction of lymphatic drainage from the skin is not possible and that the old clinical guidelines based on Sappey’s lines therefore should be abandoned. To the best of my knowledge, my former group at the Hospital of the Frankfurt Goethe University was the first ever to standardize sc...

To evaluate the effect of manual lymphatic drainage on technetium-99m-labeled dextran (99mTcDx) transport, 16 patients with lymphedema of lower extremities underwent two lymphscintigraphy exams by injecting 99mTcDx intradermally into the first interdigital space of the affected extremity. The first was a control examination at rest followed by an examination which included a manual lymphatic dr...

The pattern and incidence of lymphatic spread of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is differentiated according to location, size and histologic type of primary tumors. As the primary tumor size increases, the incidence of lymphatic metastasis increases. Ogata et al reported the incidence of mediastinal lymphatic metastasis increased from 24% for tumors under 2 cm in size to more than 40% for t...

TO THE EDITOR: I read with interest the continuing education article by Uren et al. (1) stating that clinical prediction of lymphatic drainage from the skin is not possible and that the old clinical guidelines based on Sappey’s lines therefore should be abandoned. To the best of my knowledge, my former group at the Hospital of the Frankfurt Goethe University was the first ever to standardize sc...