A TRIBUTARY OF EXTERNAL JUGULAR VEIN COMMUNICATING WITH INTERNAL JUGULAR VEIN-A CASE REPORT

The jugular veins of the neck are known to exhibit variations in its formation and course. This is a case report of a tributary of external jugular vein communicating with the internal jugular vein (oblique jugular vein). During routine cadaveric dissection in a 50 year old male cadaver, an abnormal communication of the external jugular vein with the internal jugular vein was observed .Knowledge of the varying drainage patterns of superficial veins of the head and neck, in particular, jugular veins are not only important for anatomists but also for the surgeons operating at this level and to clinicians in general. The variations are important also for interventional radiologists, who perform trans-jugular procedures, such as port implantations and trans-jugular intra-hepatic porto-systemic shunts or selective venous samplings. Results of recent studies report that the superficial veins, especially the external jugular vein, have been increasingly utilized to conduct diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.