Intraarterial lymphocyte-injection therapy for lymphedema of the leg: an examination using indium-111 oxine labeled autologous lymphocytes.

A 58-year-old female patient with lymphedema of the left leg was treated by repeated intraarterial lymphocyte-injection therapy. To elucidate whether the injected lymphocytes act at the affected site of the leg, we examined the distribution of the In-111 oxine labeled lymphocytes injected into the proximal artery to the affected leg in comparison with the distribution in the other, healthy, leg. The radioactivity of the affected leg was almost two times higher than that of the healthy leg during the first 30 min after injection, and it remained higher even after 24 hours. The circumference of the affected leg of the patient decreased steadily during her hospital stay. These results, together with the clinical findings, suggest that some of the intraarterially-injected lymphocytes remained in the affected leg at least 24 hours and might play some role in reducing the volume of lymphedematous fluid.