Abstract
Thoracic duct drainage has been clinically used for correction of immunological disorders such as autoimmune diseases and rejection in kidney transplantation. However, although clinical usefulness has been so advocated, actual applications have been very much limitted probably due to complexity in its maneuver. In an attempt to solve the problem, a novel thoracic duct drainage system which utilizes continuous filtration of lymphatic fluid to collect lymphocytes has been newly devised. The system is composed of a fine doublelumen catheter and a wearable pump for drainage, a filter (CPC-1 IFC) for lymphocyte trapping and a small infusion pump for heparin injection. A preliminary in vitro experiment evidenced reliability of the function of the system. An animal experiment using mongrel dogs showed that a lymph flow rate was 40 to 90ml/hr and all lymphocytes flowing from the thoracic duct which was counted 2.0 to 4.3×106/ml were caught by the filter. Total portein concentration in lymphatic fluid did not change even after the filtration. In conclusion, the system is proved to be simple and reliable to collect lymphocytes and expected to be applicable for clinical use.
