purplish nodes on the finger pulp or the *thenar or *hypothenar eminence. They are usually tender and a sign of bacterial *endocarditis. [Sir W. Osler]
The central drainage and metabolic organs strung along the lymph vessels. The mesenchymal structure is native, being present at birth. The functional cells have all migrated there, some recently from the marrow, spleen, thymus or blood, others have resided since a few months after birth. Much of the antibody memory is stored in these nodes, and having only venous blood supply, lymph nodes are constantly shunting metabolized substances back into the blood, so the final lymph drainage from the thoracic duct into the left subclavian vein (or the right subclavian) contains fluid already screened and cleansed by many nodes.... lymph nodes
(hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia) a hereditary (autosomal *dominant) disorder characterized by thinning of the blood vessel walls, resulting in abnormally wide and fragile blood vessels. Patients may develop telangiectasia (see telangiectasis), nosebleeds, and arteriovenous malformations (see angioma). It is caused by mutations in the endoglin (ENG) gene or the activin receptor-like kinase (ALK-1) gene. [Sir W. Osler (1849–1919), Canadian physician; H. J. M. Rendu (1844–1902), French physician; F. P. Weber (1863–1962), British physician]... osler–rendu–weber disease
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