Abstract of research

LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE OF THE THORACIC AND PELVIC LIMBS OF THE RABBITS

Abdel-Mohsen, U., Attia, M. and Bahgat, H. a

Abstract

The present study is carried out on twenty healthy adult rabbits of different sexes up to 2.5 year of age and weighted from 2.5-3.5 kg. Ten rabbits are used for gross anatomical studies of the position and dimensions of lymph nodes. Other ten adult rabbits are used for the histological study. The rabbit thoracic limb has axillary lymphocenter which includes the proper and accessory axillary lymph nodes and the pelvic limb has the popliteal lymphocenter which comprises the superficial popliteal lymph node. The proper axillary lymph nodes are one to two nodes (one large and one small). They are situated in the axillary space. The accessory axillary lymph node is single node lies on each side subcutaneously in the axilla caudal to the shoulder joint. The superficial popliteal lymph node is single lymph node. It is located subcutaneously between M. biceps femoris and M. semitendinosus and dorsal to the lateral head of M. gastrocnemius. The structure of the lymph nodes is similar. They are surrounded by capsule that sends trabeculae that divides the nodes into several lobes. The subcapsular sinuses are very narrow and lack in some areas of the nodes. The cortex shows well-defined nodules (primary and secondary) which are located at the periphery of the node. The medulla is characterized by the presence of medullary cords with medullary sinuses. The cords consist of lymphocytes, macrophages, Reticular cells, plasma cells and occasional neutrophils