LYMPHEDEMA OF THE EXTREMITIES:  CLASSIFICATION, ETIOLOGY AND DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: A STUDY OF THREE HUNDRED CASES

General information about lymphedema tends to be somewhat confused and vague, in spite of a considerable number of excellent reports that may be found in medical literature. This situation is due in large part to the relative rarity of lymphedema, to an inadequate knowledge of its etiology, bacteriology and pathology and to the absence of a comprehensive classification. Although it is impossible for any single author to clarify all these shortcomings, I feel that a presentation of the pertinent data from the records of three hundred cases observed at the Mayo Clinic in the previous ten years offers an opportunity to fill many of the gaps in knowledge and to present a more or less orderly and logical pattern of classification, etiology and description of the condition. Aids to such a presentation are furnished by recent excellent work on the anatomy and physiology of lymph and lymph vessels, well illustrated