Concomitant Occurrence of Fenestrated Internal Jugular Vein and Sub-omohyoid External Jugular Vein: A Case Report

Abstract

External jugular vein is the superficial vein of the neck and is prone to variations. Multiple internal jugular veins are incidental findings that present as a duplication or fenestration. We encountered a unilateral fenestrated internal jugular vein and a bilateral variation in the course of external jugular vein, during a cadaveric dissection. The external jugular vein, after its formation, crossed the sternocleidomastoid muscle and pierced the investing cervical fascia of the posterior triangle. It traversed deep to the inferior belly of omohyoid muscle to enter the subclavian triangle and terminated by draining into the subclavian vein on the left side, and at the angle between the internal jugular vein and the subclavian vein on the right side. The fenestrated internal jugular vein on the left side divided into a small medial and large lateral division which reunited at the level of the tendon of omohyoid muscle and drained into the subclavian vein. Only the medial division of the internal jugular vein received tributaries in the neck. Awareness of the multiple variations of the jugular veins would be valuable during surgical approaches to the neck. Present report aims to be useful for vascular surgeons, radiologists, and intensivists as well.

Anatomical Variations of the External Jugular Vein: A Pictorial and Critical Review

“…Therefore, both divisions of the RMV supplied the EJV. It was also reported a dissection case in which the EJV continued posterior to the SCM but deep to the inferior belly of the omohyoid muscle to finally reach the subclavian vein [ 61 ].…”