The Lymphatic/Immune System and Its Disorders
Walter F. Stanaszek, Mary J. Stanaszek, Robert J. Holt, Steven Strauss in Understanding Medical Terms, 2020
Since the lymphatic system is involved in immunity, infections are a common result of lymphatic disorders. When any part of the immune system is suppressed, as by drugs that cause leukopenia, any lymphadenopathy (disease of the lymph nodes), or lymphangitis (inflammation of the lymph vessels), the individual may become immunocompromised. Such immunosuppression may also be an intended or unavoidable result of drug therapy, as in the transplant patient who is on immunosuppressive therapy to reduce the risk of rejection or the cancer patient being treated with antineoplastic agents. These agents suppress the immune system because the immune cells are produced more rapidly than most others, making them more susceptible to the cytotoxic effects of these drugs.
Lymphatic disorders
Professor Sir Norman Williams, Professor P. Ronan O’Connell, Professor Andrew W. McCaskie in Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery, 2018
Acute lymphangitis is an infection, often caused by Streptococcus pyogenes or Staphylococcus aureus, which spreads to the draining lymphatics and lymph nodes (lymphadenitis) where an abscess may form. Eventually this may progress to bacte- raemia or septicaemia. The normal signs of infection (rubor, calor, dolor) are present and a red streak is seen in the skin along the line of the inflamed lymphatic (Figure58.1). The part should be rested to reduce lymphatic drainage and elevated to reduce swelling, and the patient should be treated with intravenous antibiotics based upon actual or suspected sensitivities. Failure to improve within 48 hours suggests inappropriate antibiotic therapy, the presence of undrained pus or the presence of an underlying systemic disorder (malignancy, immunodeficiency). The lymphatic damage caused by acute lymphangitis may lead to recurrent attacks of infection and lymphoedema; patients with lymphoedema are prone to so-called acute inflammatory episodes (see below).
Thermography by Specialty
James Stewart Campbell, M. Nathaniel Mead in Human Medical Thermography, 2023
Though the vascular system is often thought to be confined to the arteries and veins, the lymphatics or “third vascular system” must also be considered. The lymphatic system is generally invisible or overlooked by thermographers except when disrupted by trauma or surgery, obstructed by parasites such as filariasis, inflamed by infection, or invaded by malignant metastases. A prominent thermal finding is “blood poisoning” – lymphatic inflammation from ascending lymphangitis, usually due to streptococcal bacteria (Figure 11.43). The thermographic appearance of inflamed lymphatics tends to be “wispy,” like cirrus clouds, due to the interweaving network of small lymph vessels, as opposed to the well-defined thermal borders of a warm vein.196 The lymph vessels become more linear and less branched as they progress up the limbs toward the trunk. The presence of visible and warm red streaks extending up a limb indicate possible lymphangitis. Acting as waystations along the lymphatic flow, groups of superficially-located lymph nodes appear thermographically as warm spotty or blotchy areas when reacting to an infection or other invasion. Lymph nodes deep in the body cannot be detected by thermal imaging.
Could Penile Mondor’s Disease Worsen Symptoms in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction?
Published in Journal of Investigative Surgery, 2022
PMD may be diagnosed with a medical history and physical examination. Penile Doppler ultrasound may be performed for a definitive diagnosis. Diagnoses using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have also been reported [10]. Non-venereal sclerosing penile lymphangitis should also be considered in the differential diagnosis. Upon physical examination, there was a folded, irregular, and light-permeable pathology in lymphangitis, while vein thrombosis was palpable as a flat and pendant string. In addition, it is possible to separate endothelial cells in veins using immunohistochemical methods [11]. In our study, penile Doppler ultrasound was performed on all patients, the thrombosed segment was shown, and PMD was confirmed. None of our patients required additional imaging to make a definitive diagnosis.
Preliminary outcomes of combined surgical approach for lower extremity lymphedema: supraclavicular lymph node transfer and lymphaticovenular anastomosis
Published in Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, 2022
Jae-Ho Chung, Yong-Jae Hwang, Seung-Ha Park, Eul-Sik Yoon
A 41-year-old woman had left LEL after a hysterectomy three years ago (Figure 4). A year before visiting our clinic, she underwent LVA surgery at the ankle and knee levels at another hospital. However, a month after surgery, it had deteriorated and showed a repetitive lymphangitis. For treatment, a simultaneous supraclavicular VLNT and three LVAs were performed (Figure 5). LVAs were conducted at the ankle and the superior edge of the knee. The preoperative circumference diameters were 57 cm and 46.5 cm at 10 cm above and below the patella, and 32 cm at lateral maleollus. The postoperative circumference diameters were improved to 55 cm, 40 cm and 29 cm at 15 months, respectively. The LEL index was improved from 435.0 to 347.6 postoperatively. Also, the symptoms of lymphatic inflammation did not recur after surgery.
Pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis: systematic review and meta-analysis of case reports, 1970-2018
Published in Postgraduate Medicine, 2019
The primary purpose of this paper was to examine the epidemiology and the most common clinical manifestations of pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis. We established that the mean age of PLC occurrence in patients with neoplasm is 49.21 years. There is no difference in the prevalence between men and women. The most common underlying primary tumors coexisting with PLC are breast (17.3%), lung (10.8%) and gastric cancers (10.8%). Dyspnea and dry cough were the most common symptoms associated with PLC, occurring in more than half of the patients (dyspnea, 59.0%) and one-third of patients (dry cough, 33.8%). In half of the patients, PLC developed in fewer than ten months after the diagnosis of cancer. Pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis diagnosis is associated with a poor prognosis: approximately half of the patients die within two months of their first respiratory symptoms and three weeks from admission to hospital. Regarding survival time, we observed better results achieved in patients described between 2000 and 2018 compared to 1970 through1999.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Great Saphenous Vein
- Inflammation
- Thrombophlebitis
- Lymphatic System
- Lymphadenopathy
- Infection
- Streptococcus Pyogenes
- Sepsis
- Lymphangitis Carcinomatosa