Open AccessA Rare Anatomical Relationship of Spinal Accessory Nerve to Internal Jugular Vein
Author(s) -
Amit Dhawan,
Prahlad Duggal,
Sumeet Sandhu
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of head and neck surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0976-0539
pISSN - 0975-7899
DOI - 10.5005/jp-journals-10001-1090
Subject(s) - medicine , internal jugular vein , accessory nerve , neck dissection , anatomy , dissection (medical) , vein , head and neck , jugular vein , surgery , carcinoma , pathology
A patient with squamous cell carcinoma of right retromolar area of the mandible and undergoing a staging neck dissection was noted to have a unique relationship of the internal jugular vein and spinal accessory nerve. At the upper end of the dissection (level II, Memorial Sloan-Kettering classification), the spinal accessory nerve was observed to pass directly through the internal jugular vein. Although previously described only once in the literature, this finding may be encountered by other surgeons who operate in this area and it is important that these anatomical variations are borne in mind to prevent inadvertent injury. To our knowledge, this must be the first case reported from India. How to cite this article Dhawan A, Duggal P, Sandhu S. A Rare Anatomical Relationship of Spinal Accessory Nerve to Internal Jugular Vein. Int J Head and Neck Surg 2012;3(1): 40-41.