[Changes in the femoral vein in dogs as an effect of experimental lymphedema]

Authors studied changes of femoral vein developed by the effect of examinations experimental lymphoedema in dogs. Light and electronmicroscopic were performed from femoral vein of animals killed on 3rd and 14th postoperative day, and biomechanical examinations were done too from dogs killed on 14th postoperative day. In vessel wall edema, fibrosis, and in valves infiltration consisting of macrophages, neutrophilic granulocytes and of mesenchymal cells were observed. Biomechanical examinations did not show significant deviation. Their results suggest the possibility that extremital lymphoedema also in man may contribute to development of varicosity or to its aggravation. Experimental lymphoedema of lower limb of dog can be proposed as model experiment to the complex study of pathogenesis of development of varix.