Open interfaces in initial lymphatics: a methodological artifact?

Castenholz, Hauck, and other authors--including myself--have previously described initial lymphatics and the existence of open interfaces in tongue, mesentery as well as in uterus. These structures were supposed to represent an additional entrance into the initial lymphatic pathway and the open interfaces were proposed to act as pressure relief valves in some organs in case of increased volumes of tissue fluid. The methodological approaches used by these authors were interstitial and retrograde fillings of the lymphatic system, and often an endothelium-lined structure was seen connecting initial lymphatics with the interstitial space and ending free in connective tissue. Further research of my group in basic lymphology has led to new and surprising insights, and we now demonstrate that most of these so called "open-interfaces" are methodological artifacts.