European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 16 - Number 3
Eur J Anat, 16 (3): 212-215 (2012)

Variation in termination of facial vein - a rare case report

Shilpa Bathla, Ritu Singroha, S.K. Srivastava

Department of Anatomy, Pt. B.D.Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak-124001,Haryana, India

ABSTRACT Despite the fact that the blueprint of the whole body is unraveled, faultlessly during the growth and development of an animal; amazing variations do occur. During routine dissection of head and neck in our Department of Anatomy, an unusual drainage pattern of the facial vein on the left side of the face of a middle aged male cadaver was observed. The facial vein presented a normal course from its origin up to the base of mandible, and then it crossed the base of the mandible posterior to the facial artery. Thereafter, it bifurcated with one limb terminating into the anterior jugular vein and another into the external jugular vein. In addition to that, we also noticed a variation in the formation of the external jugular vein on the same side, which was formed by the anterior and posterior divisions of the retromandibular vein and the posterior auricular vein. Sound anatomic knowledge of the variations in the veins of the head and the neck is essential to the success of surgical procedures in this region.

Keywords: Anatomical variation, Facial vein, External jugular vein, Retromandibular vein, Posterior auricular vein

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)