An ultrastructural study of localized lymphangioma circumscriptum.

An electron microscopic study was performed on the lymphatic vessel (lv) of localized lymphangioma circumscriptum (Lc), which was found clinically typical but histologically not associated with hemangioma and inflammation. The lv of Lc was morphologically divided into two types. The first type was situated at the upper dermis of the lesion and the other, at the deep dermis. The former had certain similarities to lv of experimentally induced lymph-stasis, whereas the latter was morphologically similar to lv of the normal skin. From the findings of the present study and those reported in literature, Lc could not be considered as a mere benign overgrowth of lv, but as one of pathological results induced by a long-standing lymph-stasis.