Definition of Thoracic duct

1. Noun. The major duct of the lymphatic system.

Group relationships: Lymphatic System, Systema Lymphaticum
Generic synonyms: Lymph Vessel, Lymphatic Vessel

Medical Definition of Thoracic duct

1. The major efferent lymph duct into which lymph from most of the peripheral lymph nodes drains. Recirculating lymphocytes that have left the circulation in the lymph node return to the blood through the thoracic duct. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Thoracic Duct

thoracic
thoracic-pelvic-phalangeal dystrophy
thoracic actinomycosis
thoracic aorta
thoracic aortic aneurysm
thoracic aortic plexus
thoracic arteries
thoracic axis
thoracic cage
thoracic cages
thoracic cardiac branches of vagus nerve
thoracic cardiac nerves
thoracic cavity
thoracic choke
thoracic compliance
thoracic duct (current term)
thoracic fistula
thoracic ganglia
thoracic girdle
thoracic glands
thoracic goiter
thoracic index
thoracic injuries
thoracic interspinal muscle
thoracic interspinales muscles
thoracic intertransversarii muscles
thoracic intertransverse muscles
thoracic kidney
thoracic limb
thoracic longissimus muscle

Literary usage of Thoracic duct

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Anomalies and curiosities of medicine by George Milbry Gould, Walter Lytle Pyle (1901)
"that the effusion was chyle, the thoracic duct being torn just opposite the ... In 1891 Eyer reported a case of rupture of the thoracic duct, causing death ..."

2. Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical by Henry Gray (1901)
"... viscera : the efferent vessels from these glands unite into a few large trunks, which, with the lacteals, form the commencement of the thoracic duct. ..."

3. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1908)
"The Effect of Pilocarpine on the Output of Lymphocytes through the Thoracic Duct.— Rous (Jour Exp. Med., 1908, x, 329) has been able to confirm some ..."

4. The Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body by Matthew Baillie (1812)
"There was no obstruction at the entrance of the: thoracic duct into the venal system, ... This. diseased appearance of the thoracic duct has already been ..."

5. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1880)
"By SH GAGE, of Ithaca, NY THE thoracic duct or great lymphatic trunk which ... The lacteals and thoracic duct will, nearly always, be filled with the red ..."

6. American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory by Jaques Cattell, Jaques Cattell Press (1921)
"... multiple anemic infarcts of the liver; changes in bone marrow produced by splenectomy and hemolytic agents; chylothorax; pathology of thoracic duct. ..."

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