[Experimental and clinical study on the lymphatic pathway draining from the distal esophagus and gastric cardia]

The intramural and extramural lymphatics draining from the distal esophagus and gastric cardia were studied in 140 mongrel dogs by dye injection technique. A clinical study was also performed on the lymphatic pathway in these regions by radio isotope uptake (RIU). The results were compared with that of lymph node metastases in 113 patients with carcinoma of the distal esophagus and 103 patients with carcinoma of the gastric cardia. The intramural lymphatics between the distal esophagus and gastric cardia were communicated at the central part of the muscularis mucosae. This finding coincided with the results of intramural RIU. The extramural lymphatics from the distal esophagus flowed both upward and downward. Those from the cardia entered the intraabdominal regional lymph nodes, but none was visualized either in the mediastinum or in the thoracic cavity. Similarly, few RIUs were detected in the mediastinal nodes. As the result of partial or total blockade at the cardiac portion of the stomach in dogs, ascending lymphatics reaching the thoracic cavity was observed in 6 of 27 cases. Clinically, the incidence of the mediastinal lymph node metastases were 17.0%. These results indicate that upward lymphatic spreads may occur in cases with cardiac cancer when the descending lymphatic pathway is blocked by the tumor invasion.