Expansion
The right head and neck, right arm and right thorax, the right upper quadrant of the body
Expansion
The right lymphatic duct drains only:
- Right side of the head and neck
- Right upper limb
- Right side of the thorax, including the right lung and most of the heart
- Right upper quadrant of the anterior abdominal wall and the convex surface of the liver
It is only about 1 cm long, formed by the union of the right jugular, subclavian and bronchomediastinal trunks, and empties into the right venous angle where the right internal jugular and subclavian veins meet.
Everything else - both lower limbs, the entire abdomen and pelvis, the left thorax, the left arm and the left head and neck, drains to the thoracic duct and the left venous angle.
That asymmetry is why the left supraclavicular node (Virchow’s node) is the one enlarged by abdominal malignancy.