ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: The thoracic duct is the major lymphatic duct in the human body, the variations in theorigin, course and termination of the thoracic duct are of great clinical importance during surgeries related tothe upper abdomen, posterior mediastinum and in cervical region, but still now a detailed study had not beendone in Andhra Pradesh state, it was decided to undertake this present study. Isolation of the thoracic duct andtracing the origin, course and termination were done to know more about it than already documented andthereby hoping to add more information to guide the radiologists and operating surgeons.Materials and methods: A total number of 45 cadavers were studied, of these 15 were female and 30 were malecadavers. The material consisted of adult cadavers between the ages of 42-81 from the dissection halls ofdepartment of anatomy of 3 different medical colleges in costal Andhra Pradesh.Results: The observations of the formation, course, length, vertebral levels, types of cisterna chili, and variationsin the termination in cervical region are documented in this study. Conclusion: The present findings showed agreat variability compare the previous studies. The findings noted in the present study regarding thoracic ducthad contributed to a better understanding of the anatomy of the thoracic duct and will prove definitely useful tosurgeons during surgical procedures related to the thoracic duct.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the depiction rate of normal cisterna chyli and thoracic duct by nonenhanced MR lymphography and to describe their appearances on MR imaging.Methods Special MR hydrography sequence was added to the MR imaging protocols of 112 patients undergoing MR examination of the thorax and upper abdomen.MR imaging sequences included:①Respiratory-gated HASTE T2W sequence;②Breath-hold FLASH T1W sequence;③Respiratory-gated TSE 3D T2W sequence(3D MR hydrography sequence)in coronal plane.One hundred cases who met the inclusion criteria were included into the study for observation of the depiction rate,location and morphology of cisterna chyli and thoracic duct.Results On TSE 3D T2W imaging:①Cisterna chyli was visualized in 71/100(depiction rate 71.0%),morphologically including single-tube type 43.7%(31/71),bifurcation type(2-3 tubes)23.9%(17/71),plexus type 32.4%(23/71).Average length of the cisterna chyli was 4.5 cm.②The depiction rate of the lower segment of thoracic duct was 57.0%(57/100),average ductal diameter was 0.23 cm.③The depiction rate of upper segment of the thoracic duct was 31.0%(31/100).Conclusion As a noninvasive method for depicting the lymphatic system,nonenhaced MR lymphography(TSE 3D T2W sequence)demonstrated a high depiction rate for cisterna chyli and lower thoracic duct.Combined with axial images of HASTE and FLASH sequences,the location and morphology of these larger lymphatic ducts can be defined.