Hepatic Lymphatics as Opacified by Percutaneous Intrahepatic Injection of Contrast Medium

Abstract

Hepatic lymph vessels were opacified in 125 patients with various hepatobiliary diseases during percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography or portography. Contrast medium deposited in the parenchyma flowed relatively quickly in winding channels, usually toward the hepatic hilus. No correlation was demonstrated between the locus of the intraparenchymal deposit and the direction of the flow. Contrast medium also opacified the lymphatics near the hepatic hilus and abdominal aorta. Neither jaundice nor liver disorder were prerequisite for the visualization of the hepatic lymphatics. The intrahepatic injection of contrast medium provides a safe and useful method for the study of hepatic lymph and its pathways.