Flow of lymph from the canine liver

Abstract

Observation of the hilar lymphatics from 100 canine livers seen at operation disclosed two drainage pathways: 1) a main hilar system, draining predominantly the right lobes and 2) an accessory hilar system, draining mainly the left lobe. In 94% of the animals all of the hilar lymph seemed to pass into one common efferent trunk which then discharged it into the cisterna chyli. Apparently, 69% of the animals had a lymph vessel large enough to permit cannulation for physiologic studies. From a study of five dogs in which the gallbladder was removed and the common bile duct ligated and in which there were fistulas of both the hilar lymph trunk and the thoracic duct, it was concluded that, normally, about 80% of the lymph leaving the canine liver probably travels by the hilar route and the remaining 20% by the hepatic venous lymph route. The mean flow of hilar lymph from the liver during biliary obstruction in 20 unanesthetized animals was 0.66 ml/kg body weight/hr., the standard error of the mean being ±0.07.