A search for lymphatic drainage of the monkey orbit
J. J. McGetrick, D. G. Wilson, R. K. Dortzbach, P. L. Kaufman and B. N. Lemke
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison 53792.
Colloid solutions of technetium Tc 99m and india ink injected into the
retrobulbar space of the cynomolgus monkey outside the extraocular muscle
cone were removed from the orbit by the lymphatic vessels of the
conjunctiva and eyelids and were then concentrated within the lymph nodes
that drained the conjunctival and eyelid areas. Colloid solutions injected
into the retrobulbar space inside the extraocular muscle cone did not reach
the conjunctiva and did not collect in any lymph nodes over a 24-hour
period. Within the orbit, the injected colloids spread along the planes of
the connective-tissue septa. No lymphatic vessels were identified within
the orbits posterior to the conjunctiva. Small amounts of india ink left
the posterior orbit and ultimately entered the contralateral orbit. This
posterior pathway did not lead to lymphatic vessels or lymph nodes and
therefore does not appear to represent a prelymphatic pathway.
