Cure for lymphedema

Brand new article out of Japan claims they've cured lymphedema in a single patient through a surgical intervention called lymphatic-venous anastomosis. Basically, they go in and surgically connect the old lymph vessels to the nearest veins, thus reopening the flow. This kind of connection is commonly done with intestines all the time. What makes it so special and hard is that the blood and lymph vessels are tiny--it was labeled microsurgery in the article, and in a related review published in 2005 by this same research group, they discuss how hard the technique is for surgeons to perform. That would explain why it's not commonly done, or even often heard of at all. But huge potential here.

Ann Vasc Surg. 2011 Nov 11. [Epub ahead of print]

Using Indocyanine Green Fluorescent Lymphography and Lymphatic-Venous Anastomosis for Cancer-Related Lymphedema.

Mihara M, Murai N, Hayashi Y, Hara H, Iida T, Narushima M, Todokoro T, Uchida G, Yamamoto T, Koshima I.

Source

Department of Plastic Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.