[Observations regarding lymphatic gastric drainage in malignant gastric pathology through intra-operatory...

The authors became interested in the lymphatic drainage of the stomach in order to attempt to determine for each region the type of drainage and the risk of cancer spread. They studied 50 dissection, including the stomach, 115 cases records of gastric carcinoma, 8 lymphographies by ultrafluid lipiodal, and 48 preoperative injections of vital colorant. The system of drainage proposed by Rouvière was on the whole confirmed; however, one should emphasize the doubling of the hepatic chain, the existence of long collectors which bypass a relay in the left gastric artery, the importance of the posterior gastric artery which transmits the lymphatic of the splenic chain. Finally, the authors emphasize the existence of 3 longitudinal areas on the stomach where the presence or absence of valvules in the subserous collectors orients the lymph towards the lesser or greater curvature of the stomach, which easily explains the onset of isolated carcinomatous adenopathy, situated on the curvature opposite the neoplasm.