Relationship between renal lymph flow and changes in kidney size during urography.
Using direct cannulation of renal lymphatic vessels and simultaneous photography of the exposed dog kidney during urography, the time schedule of variations in lymph flow and kidney size was established. The intravenous contrast injection produced heavy increase of renal lymph flow during the first 8 minutes of urography. Peak values were observed 3--4 minutes after injection. From 8 to 11 minutes after injection the lymph flow was depressed below the baseline, followed by a tendency of reestablishment. Generally after 25 minutes the lymph flow returned to its baseline level. The earliest response of kidney size upon intravenous contrast injection was a rapid, short-lived decreased, followed by a distension during the first 3 minutes. Thereafter a tendency to return to the preurographic size was observed. However none of the kidneys returned entirely to the baseline size during one hour of observation. The possible physiologic explanations of the observations are discussed.