[Erroneous diagnosis of phlebitis: lymphedema mistaken for postphlebitic edema].

In this study the case is reported of a patient aged thirty in good general health who presented with oedema of the left lower limb, attributed to a deep phlebitis sustained in 1977. Clinical examination showed an old scar in Scarpa's triangle and a mycosis of the toes, and questioning revealed the precise circumstances of the "Phlebitis"; from this and with the aid of a dye test it was possible to rectify the diagnosis. Phlebography confirmed that the problem was one of lymphangitis and that the correct diagnosis was that of lymphoedema, secondary to an infection arising from the feet in a patient with a mechanical defect in the lymphatic circulation.