Am J Physiol 1996 Jan;270(1 Pt 2):H358-63 Related Articles, Books
Flow velocity of single lymphatic
capillaries in human skin.
Fischer M, Franzeck UK, Herrig I, Costanzo U, Wen S, Schiesser M, Hoffmann
U, Bollinger A.
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
The
purpose of this study was to investigate the previously unknown flow
velocity in single lymphatic
capillaries of humans in the supine position.
Fifteen healthy subjects (10 women and 5 men; mean age
35.8 +/- 13.1 yr)
were studied. Ten microliters of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran
(150,000
mol wt) were injected into the subepidermal layer of the foot
dorsum. The filling of the microlymphatics
from the resulting depot was
visualized by fluorescence video microscopy and stored on videotape.
Flow
velocity in the microlymphatics was determined on the video screen by
direct measurement of
the advancement of dyed lymph during a given time.
The following median velocities were obtained:
0.51 mm/s (0.27 and 0.61
mm/s for lower and upper quartiles, respectively) for velocity during
initial
network filling and 9.7 microns/s (6.9 and 14.2 microns/s for
lower and upper quartiles, respectively)
for resting velocity at the end
of the filling period. Mean lymphatic capillary diameter was 54.8
+/- 8.2
microns, and mean network extension was 8.3 +/- 3.2 mm. The high filling
velocities are
probably due to increased interstitial pressure and volume
caused by dye microinjection, whereas the
values measured during the end
of network filling seem to approach resting flow velocities.
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