Cardiac Lymph Flow Features and New Opportunities for Their Experimental Visualization

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Science
• Lymphatic System Imaging
• Cardiac Anatomy

Background:

• The lymphatic system's role in cardiac health is not fully understood.
• Existing methods for visualizing cardiac lymphatics are limited.
• Detailed mapping of myocardial lymph flow is crucial for understanding cardiac fluid dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe myocardial lymph flow characteristics.
• To introduce a new combined optical and radiologic method for lymphatic system visualization.
• To enhance understanding of the cardiac lymphatic system's structure and function.

Main Methods:

• Harvesting pig hearts from a local slaughterhouse.
• Injecting a lipid-soluble chlorophyll and lipiodol dye into lymphatic vessels.
• Utilizing optical identification followed by air injection into coronary arteries and CT scans for dual visualization.

Main Results:

• Achieved simultaneous optical and radiologic visibility of the cardiac lymphatic system.
• Demonstrated that lymph from the left and most of the right ventricle flows through anterior heart lymphatic collectors.
• Observed lymph flow retrogradely with respect to the right coronary artery.

Conclusions:

• The new combined method effectively visualizes the cardiac lymphatic system.
• Myocardial lymph drainage pathways, particularly via anterior collectors, have been further elucidated.
• This study complements existing knowledge of the heart's lymphatic anatomy and flow patterns.