[Chyluria treated with inguinal lymphangiovenous and lymph node-venous anastomosis: a case report]

Stripping and ligation of the renal lymphatics has been a standard operation for patients with chyluria in Japan. However, recently, inguinal lymph node-saphenous vein anastomosis and lymphangiovenous anastomosis in the spermatic cord or the lower limb are introduced as a microsurgical treatment of chyluria with good result from China. We present a case of 50-year-old female with chyluria, which was cured by the lymphatic-venous anastomosis at the groin. The patient had lived in Okinawa, an area of endemic filariasis, till 23 years of age. She noted chyluria for the first time at 28 years of age, when it was treated by irrigation of the renal pelvis with silver nitrate solution. The symptom recurred at 48 years of age, and fatigue developed two months before admission. The conservative treatments including rest, low fat diet and repeated irrigation of the renal pelvis were carried out, but these were ineffective. Therefore, bilateral inguinal lymph node-saphenous vein anastomosis and lymphangiovenous anastomosis in the same wound on the right were performed. The chyluria disappeared five months after the operation. The lymphatic-venous anastomosis at the superficial part of the body may be the surgical procedure of choice, because they are effective, simple, less invasive and less traumatic.