List of abbreviations
Vocabulary
of micros-
copic
anatomy
specialist terms
explained in
English +
German

Every attempt was made to provide correct information and labelling, however any liability for eventual errors or incompleteness is rejected!

dieser Seite

Editor:
Dr. med.
H. Jastrow


Conditions
of use
thoracic duct (rat)
(for unlabelled original image click here, please!)

Ad = Areae densae (dense bodies; anchoring Af at the cell membrane); Af = Filamenta actinia (actin filaments in C2);
C1 = Cytoplasm (cellular fluid + organelles of a lymphocyte); C2 = Cytoplasma (cytoplasm of a smooth muscle cell);
Ca = Caveola (caveole; small invagination of extracellular space into the cytoplasm);
Cd = Corpuscula densa (fusiform densities; intracellular interconnection of actin filaments Af);
Dp = Diaphragma pori (membrane covering nuclear pores); Ec = Euchromatinum (euchromatin);
Enf = Endotheliocytus non fenestratus (non-fenestrated endothelial cell); G = Golgi-apparatus; Hc = Heterochromatinum (heterochromatin);
Ic = Invaginationes cellulae (larger invaginations of extracellular space into a smooth muscle cell);
Kf = Fibrilla collageni (collagen fibril); Ko1 = Fibra collagenosa (collagen fibre, tangential cut); Ko2 = Fibra collagenosa (collagen fibre, cross-section)
L = Lumen ducti thoracici (lumen of the thoracic duct); Lc = lymphocyti (lymphocytes);
Mi = Mitochondra (crista-type of a lymphocyte); Mi2 = Mitochondra (crista-type in smooth muscle cells);
Mn = Membrana nuclei (nuclear membrane); Myn = Myocyti non-striati (smooth muscle cells); N1 = nucleus of a lymphocyte;
N2 = nucleus of an endothelial cell; N3 = nucleus of a smooth muscle cell; Nc = Nucleolus (Kernkörperchen);
P = Plasmalemmata (cell membranes); Pc = Processus cellulares (immobile processes of fibrocytes);
Pnu = Pori nucleorum (nuclear pores); Ps = pseudopods (mobile cell processes);
RER = rough endoplasmic reticulum (intracellular meshwork of channels with attached ribosomes);
Sfa = Substantia fundamentalis amorpha (ground substance).

The thoracic duct is the larges lymphatic vessel og the body. Its mane comes from lat. Ductus = duct and Thorax = thorax. The duct collects lymph from the intraabdominal organs, the pelvis and the legs. The thoracic duct originates at the chymlic cistern (Cisterna chyli) and penetrates the diaphragm to enter the thorax were it continues right to the aorta in posterior mediastinum. The duct collects endothoracic lymph ducts as well. After a fat meal the fluid in the duct becomes white (like milk). This is caused by thousands of chylomicrones that originate from gut. The thoracic duct opens into the left venous angle (Angulus venosus sinster) the junction of internal jugular vein (V. jugularis interna und der V. subclavia sinistra. Thus the whole content is directly delivered into the blood.
The thoracic duct has only a very thin monolayer of non-fenestrated endothelial cells Enf and a very weak media consisting of few smooth muscle cells Myn and larger amounts of ground substance Sfa. The media is attached to loose connective tissue. There are only few corpuscules in the lymph of the thoracic duct, in the present case exclusively lymphocytes.

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--> Electron microscopic atlas Overview
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Image, page & copyright H. Jastrow.