Comparison of Alcian Blue, Trypan Blue, and Toluidine Blue for Visualization of the Primo Vascular System Floating in Lymph Ducts

Figure 1

Stereomicroscopic images of lymph ducts in which Alcian blue and Trypan blue had been injected. (a) Illustration of the left and the right lymph ducts along the epigastric blood vessels (thick arrows) in skin. (b) Left axillary node (open arrow) which became blue due to the Alcian blue that flowed in the lymph duct. (c) Left inguinal node (open arrow) into which Alcian blue had been injected. (d) Mosaic of images of the left lymph duct along the epigastric blood vessel (thick arrows). (e) Magnified image of the rectangular area in (d). The blue threadlike structure was the primo vessel (arrow), and it was floating in the lymph duct (double arrows). (f) Right axillary node (open arrow) weakly stained by Trypan blue that flowed from the inguinal node through the lymph duct. (g) Right inguinal node (open arrow) into which Trypan blue had been injected. (h) Mosaic images of the right lymph duct from the inguinal node to the axillary node in which Trypan blue flowed. The epigastric blood vessel is indicated with thick arrows. (i) Magnified image of the rectangular area in (h). The lymph duct (double arrows) was washed clean, and the PVS was not stained. More details are presented in Figure 3.