Thoracic Duct - Volume, Mechanism, and Direction of Flow

Volume, Mechanism, and Direction of Flow

In adults, the thoracic duct transports up to 4 L of lymph per day.

The lymph transport in the thoracic duct is mainly caused by the action of breathing, aided by the duct's smooth muscle and by internal valves which prevent the lymph from flowing back down again.

There are also two valves at the junction of the duct with the left subclavian vein, to prevent the flow of venous blood into the duct.

Read more about this topic:  Thoracic Duct

Famous quotes containing the words direction and/or flow:

    Dressed to die, the sensual strut begun,
    With my red veins full of money,
    In the final direction of the elementary town
    I advance for as long as forever is.
    Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)

    For as the interposition of a rivulet, however small, will occasion the line of the phalanx to fluctuate, so any trifling disagreement will be the cause of seditions; but they will not so soon flow from anything else as from the disagreement between virtue and vice, and next to that between poverty and riches.
    Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)