Modified chronic lung lymph fistula in goats via thoracic duct

Pure lung lymph has previously been obtained in awake sheep and goats via a cannula placed in an efferent duct of the caudal mediastinal lymph node (CMN). We describe a modification in goats wherein a segment of the thoracic duct collecting pulmonary efferents is isolated and cannulated. Lymph purity and responses to elevation of pulmonary microvascular pressure are illustrated and are found to be comparable to data obtained from a series of animals prepared by standard CMN cannulation. We have adopted the alternative procedure whenever, at the time of thoracotomy, it is determined that direct CMN cannulation may be complicated. When used in combination with the CMN approach, the overall rate of successful cannulation has increased from 50% to about 80%.