What is the name of specialized organs that filter the lymph by percolation through a maze of connective tissue filled with white blood cells?
lymph cells
root hinge
edema glands
lymph nodes
eventually diffuses back into the capillaries near the venules. The remaining 15% of blood plasma drains out from the interstitial fluid into nearby lymphatic vessels (Figure 40.18). The fluid in the lymph is similar in composition to the interstitial fluid. The lymph fluid passes through lymph nodes before it returns to the heart via the vena cava. Lymph nodes are specialized organs that filter the lymph by percolation through a maze of connective tissue filled with white blood cells. The white blood cells remove infectious agents, such as bacteria and viruses, to clean the lymph before it returns to the bloodstream. After it is cleaned, the lymph returns to the heart by the action of smooth muscle pumping, skeletal muscle action, and one-way valves joining the returning blood near the junction of the venae cavae entering the right atrium of the heart.