Lymphatic Vascular Diseases

Although the lymphatic vascular system, a circulatory organ, plays a vital role in the homeostasis of body fluids and in immune surveillance, it is frequently neglected in medical curricula. For example, lymphedema, the most important consequence of a failure of the lymph vascular system, occupies one half of altogether 2233 pages, i.e., 0.022% of a standard textbook of medicine [8]. It is therefore small wonder that the physician’s knowledge of lymphology is in general low compared with other branches of vascular medicine.