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

Congenital anomalies such as positional anomalies of the right half of the colon are more common when compared to its left half. We report a rare case of congenital anomaly where the transverse colon was totally absent. Ascending colon continued as descending colon at the right colic flexure. Ascending and descending colons formed an inverted U shaped loop which was situated in the right half of the abdomen. The sigmoid colon began from the descending colon, on the right side of the midline and coursed to the left iliac fossa. The terminal part of ascending colon and entire descending colon had a persistent mesocolon. The jejunum and ileum were situated in the upper left part of the abdominal cavity. This anomaly can cause volvulus of the colon at any stage of life. Furthermore, the knowledge of this anomaly is very useful for radiologists, gastroenterologists and surgeons.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Cavity ; Colon ; Colon, Ascending ; Colon, Descending ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colon, Transverse* ; Ileum ; Intestinal Volvulus* ; Jejunum ; Mesocolon*

Though anomalies of the superior belly of the omohyoid have been described in medical literature, absence of superior belly of omohyoid is rarely reported. Herein, we report a rare case of unilateral absence of muscular part of superior belly of omohyoid. During laboratory dissections for medical undergraduate students, unusual morphology of the superior belly of the omohyoid muscle has been observed in formalin embalmed male cadaver of South Indian origin. The muscular part of the superior belly of the omohyoid was completely absent. The inferior belly originated normally from the upper border of scapula, and continued with a fibrous tendon which ran vertically lateral to sternohyoid muscle and finally attached to the lower border of the body of hyoid bone. The fibrous tendon was about 1 mm thick and received a nerve supply form the superior root of the ansa cervicalis. As omohyoid mucle is used to achieve the reconstruction of the laryngeal muscles and bowed vocal folds, the knowledge of the possible anomalies of the omohyoid muscle is important during neck surgeries.
Cadaver ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Hyoid Bone ; Laryngeal Muscles ; Male ; Neck ; Scapula ; Tendons ; Vocal Cords

Persistence of jugulocephalic vein is one of the extremely rare variations of the cephalic vein. Knowledge of such a variation is of utmost importance to orthopedic surgeons while treating the fractures of the clavicle, head and neck surgeons, during surgery of the lower part of neck, for cardiothoracic surgeons and radiologists during catheterization and cardiac device placement. We report the persistent jugulocephalic vein in an adult male cadaver, observed during the routine dissection classes. The right cephalic vein ascended upwards, superficial to the lateral part of the clavicle and terminated into the external jugular vein. It also gave a communicating branch to the axillary vein below the clavicle. We discuss the embryological and clinical importance of this rare variation.
Adult ; Axillary Vein ; Cadaver ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Clavicle ; Head ; Humans ; Jugular Veins ; Male ; Neck ; Orthopedics ; Subclavian Vein ; Surgeons ; Veins*

The subhepatic position of the cecum and appendix is a result of embryological reasons. Subhepatic appendicitis can cause diagnostic dilemmas. During the dissection of an adult male cadaver aged approximately 70 years, the subhepatic position of the cecum and appendix was noted. The appendix made a "U"-shaped bend and its tip was located in the paracolic position. The cecum had appendices epiploicae, and the terminal part of the ileum was retroperitoneal and had ascended vertically to the cecum from the right iliac fossa. Functionally, the sessile part of the ileum might restrict its peristaltic movements. The abnormal position of the terminal ileum might be mistaken for an ascending colon during laparoscopic surgery. The subhepatic position of the cecum and appendix might cause confusion in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis because the tenderness in such cases is not located at the McBurney's point.
Adult ; Appendicitis ; Appendix* ; Cadaver ; Cecum* ; Colon, Ascending ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Ileum* ; Laparoscopy ; Male