Transabdominal lymphography after intraperitoneal injection of Rous virus in newborn rats.

Newborn rats were inoculated in the peritoneal cavity with Rous sarcoma virus (Schmidt-Ruppin strain). They were studied lymphographically and histologically after various intervals of time. As a result of lesions of the lymph vessels and nodes, the lymphatic drainage of the peritoneal cavity was increasingly impaired. Pleural effusion developed as a result of leakage through the walls of the lymphatics. The passage through the lymph nodes was blocked and large lymph cysts arose in the mediastinum and retroperitoneally.