Demonstration of live lymphatic circulation in the deep fascia and its implication

It is well known that vascular arcades and lymphatic networks co-exist all over the body with distinct physiological functions complimentary to each other. We visualized lymphatics in the deep fascia under electron microscope using 4000 magnification. Encouraged by our previous research with demonstration of live microcirculation in the deep fascia, we successfully explored the possibility of demonstrating live lymphatic circulation. The fascial extension of inferiorly based fasciocutaneous flaps were dissected in five patients with distal leg defects. The fascial extension was mounted on a glass slide and examined under microscope using 600 magnification (×40 lens). We witnessed live microcirculation as well as live lymphatic circulation in the same field of observation with specific characteristics. A video recording was made to document these important features which to the best of our knowledge is not mentioned in the literature. The theme of this study is to explain, how by incorporating the deep fascia in the flap, besides vascularity, other physiological functions are augmented.