Introduction:

Lymphangitis is the inflammation of the lymphatic vessels produced by pathogenic germs and characterized by its recurrence and the compromise of the immune system. It is frequent in Cuba.

Objective:

To evaluate some indicators of cellular and humoral immunity in patients with lymphangitis.

Methods:

A descriptive, prospective and analytical study was carried out in 75 patients divided into three groups: without lymphangitis (reference), with lymphangitis in a first episode, and with recurrent lymphangitis; all attended at the National Institute of Angiology and Vascular Surgery. The variables studied were: age, sex, color of the skin and some parameters of cellular and humoral immunity. The non-parametric chi square and Student's t tests were used to compare the groups among each other.

Results:

A predominance of females was observed (n= 47, 62.7%); ages over 40 years (n= 61, 81.3%) and white skin color (n= 37, 49.3%). Obesity, chronic venous insufficiency and diabetes mellitus were the most frequent risk factors. The group with recurrent lymphangitis, with respect to the other groups, presented alterations in humoral immunity with increased concentrations (p= 0.007) of all immunoglobulins. There were no significant variations in cellular immunity.

Conclusions:

The alterations in the cellular and humoral immunity of the patients with lymphangitis, both in the first crisis as in the recidive, are not enough to suggest that they may impact in the septic processes associated with this pathology.

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