[libribook.com] Traumatic Scar Tissue Management 1st Edition

Discovery of the Lymphatic System
The lymphatic system has been documented since early recorded history:
• Hippocrates (460–377 BC) talked about vessels containing ‘white blood’
• Aristotle (384–322 BC) described vessels containing a ‘colorless fluid’, or
‘white blood’
• The French anatomist Marie Sappey (1810– 1890) used subcutaneous mercury
injections to graphically represent the anatomy of the lymphatic system.
Hippocrates spoke of white blood cells, introduced the term chyle and defined a
lymphatic temperament (Chikly 2002). Chyle – a milky-colored fluid – consists
of lymph, emulsified fats and free fatty acids.
In 1627 Gasparo Aselli discovered lymphatic vessels, calling them lacteae
venae, or milky veins. In 1652 Thomas Bartholin, a Danish physician and
anatomist, called the vessels vasa lymphatica and is credited with giving the
lymphatic system its name.
Early comprehensive study of the intricate and complex lymphatic system began
at the beginning of the twentieth century but slowed significantly because of the
lack of specific lymphatic markers, and the histogenetic origin of lymphatic
vessels remains a controversial issue (Oliver & Detmar 2002).
The most accepted understanding of the development of the lymphatic system
was put forth by Dr Florence Sabin in the early twentieth century (Sabin 1902,
Sabin 1904). Sabin injected ink into the lymphatic system of pig embryos and
cataloged the results. Sabin concluded that isolated primitive lymph sacs
originate from endothelial cells that bud from the veins during early
development. It was proposed that the two jugular lymph sacs developed in the
junction of the subclavian and anterior cardinal veins by endothelial budding
from the anterior cardinal veins (Sabin 1902, Sabin 1904). According to Sabin,
the remaining lymph sacs originate from the mesonephric vein and those in the
dorsomedial edge of the Wolffian bodies in the junction of the subclavian and
anterior cardinal veins. Sabin’s early findings have been validated through more
recent research (Wilting et al. 2003).