Dropsy is an accumulation of serous fluid in the body cavities or tissues. Serum is normally exuded through the walls of the small blood-vessels, part of it being absorbed by the veins and lymphatic vessels and returned to the blood. Dropsy arises when the serum is not absorbed sufficiently or is exuded in abnormal quantities, and is therefore more a symptom of some other disturbance than a disease in itself. Research Dropsy