Variant anatomy of muscles and veins of the neck is of importance to plastic surgeons, radiologists and general
surgeons. We report the variations of sternocleidomastoid muscle and veins of the neck in the present article. Right
sternocleidomastoid muscle had three heads of origin. The third head took its origin from the clavicle just lateral to
the usual clavicular head. All the three heads were about 4 inches long and united with each other at the level of
thyroid cartilage. There was no external jugular vein on the right side. The retromandibular vein united with facial
vein to form common facial vein. Common facial vein joined with superior thyroid and lingual veins to form a thyrolinguo-facial
trunk one inch below the angle of mandible. This trunk was about 2 inches long and terminated into the
internal jugular vein. Knowledge of this case could be useful while raising a sternocleidomastoid flap, administering
anesthesia to brachial plexus, neck surgeries and carotid endarterectomy.
Neck Muscles