Anatomy: Lymph Vessels and Nodes of the Lung, N202

The Lymphatic Vessels of the Lungs originate in two plexuses, a superficial and a deep. The superficial plexus is placed beneath the pulmonary pleura. The deep accompanies the branches of the pulmonary vessels and the ramifications of the bronchi. In the case of the larger bronchi the deep plexus consists of two net-works—one, submucous, beneath the mucous membrane, and another, peribronchial, outside the walls of the bronchi. In the smaller bronchi there is but a single plexus, which extends as far as the bronchioles, but fails to reach the alveoli, in the walls of which there are no traces of lymphatic vessels. The superficial efferents turn around the borders of the lungs and the margins of their fissures, and converge to end in some glands situated at the hilus; the deep efferents are conducted to the hilus along the pulmonary vessels and bronchi, and end in the tracheobronchial glands. Little or no anastomosis occurs between the superficial and deep lymphatics of the lungs, except in the region of the hilus.	21
The Lymphatic Vessels of the Pleura consist of two sets—one in the visceral and another in the parietal part of the membrane. Those of the visceral pleura drain into the superficial efferents of the lung, while the lymphatics of the parietal pleura have three modes of ending, viz.: (a) those of the costal portion join the lymphatics of the Intercostales interni and so reach the sternal glands; (b) those of the diaphragmatic part are drained by the efferents of the diaphragm; while (c) those of the mediastinal portion terminate in the posterior mediastinal glands.	22
The Lymphatic Vessels of the Thymus end in the anterior mediastinal, tracheobronchial, and sternal glands.	23
The Lymphatic Vessels of the Esophagus form a plexus around that tube, and the collecting vessels from the plexus drain into the posterior mediastinal glands.