Lymphatic hypoplasia without lymphoedema

A prospective study of lymph vessel abnormalities in the lower limbs of 744 adult patients without lymphoedema revealed seven patients with lymphatic hypoplasia, a prevalence rate of 0.94% (95% limits of confidence 0.24-1.64%). The prevalence was higher in males (1.1%) than in females (0.5%) but the difference is not statistically significant. This is much higher than any available estimate of the prevalence of primary lymphoedema of the lower limbs and suggests that lymphatic hypoplasia is merely one factor in the aetiology of clinical lymphoedema.