Which term describes a condition where transport capacity is reduced below the normal lymphatic load, resulting in low-volume insufficiency?

• A. Mechanical insufficiency
• B. Dynamic insufficiency
• C. Mural insufficiency
• D. Combined insufficiency

Answer: (A)

This question asks you to connect how much lymph the body has to move with how much the lymphatic system can transport. When the transport capacity is reduced below what the body normally produces, the system can’t clear lymph efficiently, so edema develops even with small amounts of lymph flow. That situation is named mechanical insufficiency. It reflects structural or functional problems in the lymphatic vessels or valves that limit forward transport, leading to low-volume insufficiency because the system’s capacity is the bottleneck, not the amount of lymph produced. In contrast, dynamic insufficiency happens when the load is high relative to a normally functioning transport system, and combined insufficiency involves both reduced capacity and increased load. Mural insufficiency isn’t the standard way this mechanism is described, so it doesn’t fit as well.