Retrosternal hemorrhage: an experimental model for study of lymphatic leakage

Courtice and colleagues observed that blood injected into the peritoneal cavity of rats occasionally leaked from retrosternal lymphatics. The present work shows that this leakage is determined by volume as well as dose of inoculum. The uniform occurrence of visible retrosternal hemorrhage after injection of diluted blood suggests its use as a model for lymphatic leakage. Leakage was prevented when the blood was instilled during the healing phase of a chemical peritonitis.