[Anasatomoses between the superficial and deep lymphatic systems in the lower limb].

The author presents a study of the lymphatic system in which he shows the existence of perforating and anastomosing lymphatic vessels in the lower limb, derived from an analysis of 183 cases. He demonstrates the presence of communicating lymphatic vessels and describes six possible variants of the perforating systems, of which four take origin from the superficial system and two from the deep system. The commonest are the superficial perforating lymphatics deriving from the internal saphenous system to rejoin the deep posterior tibial system, these two variants being found in 9.3% of cases. He also describes three systems of communicating vessels, two superficial and one deep. In all, the perforating system is present in 22 cases (12%) and the communicating system in 4 cases (2%).