Primary lymphedema of the hindlimb in the dog.

Congenital lymphedema was diagnosed clinically and confirmed radiographically in five dogs. In all dogs, hindlimbs were affected with painless pitting edema at birth or shortly thereafter. The absence of popliteal lymph nodes and lymphatic hyperplasia or lymphatic hypoplasia were detected by lymphangiography or necropsy (or both). Improvement was obtained by long-term bandaging in Robert Jones splints in one dog and by surgical excision of the affected superficial fascia and subcutaneous tissue in two dogs. The remaining two dogs were euthanatized after lymphangiographic studies and were necropsied to confirm the diagnosis.