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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 648

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 648

to the external jugular; most frequently there are two anterior jugulars, a right and left; but sometimes only one. Its tributaries are some laryngeal veins, and occasionally a small thyroid vein. Just above the sternum the two anterior jugular veins communicate by a transverse trunk, the venous jugular arch, which receive tributaries from the inferior thyroid veins; each also communicates with the internal jugular. There are no valves in this vein.
  The internal jugular vein (v. jugularis interna) collects the blood from the brain, from the superficial parts of the face, and from the neck. It is directly continuous with the transverse sinus, and begins in the posterior compartment of the jugular foramen, at the base of the skull. At its origin it is somewhat dilated, and this dilatation is called the superior bulb. It runs down the side of the neck in a vertical direction, lying at first lateral to the internal carotid artery, and then lateral to the common carotid, and at the root of the neck unites with the subclavian vein to form the innominate vein; a little above its termination is a second dilatation, the inferior bulb. Above, it lies upon the Rectus capitis lateralis, behind the internal carotid artery and the nerves passing through the jugular foramen; lower down, the vein and artery lie upon the same plane, the glossopharyngeal and hypoglossal nerves passing forward between them; the vagus descends between and behind the vein and the artery in the same sheath, and the accessory runs obliquely backward, superficial or deep to the vein. At the root of the neck the right internal jugular vein is placed at a little distance from the common carotid artery, and crosses the first part of the subclavian artery, while the left internal jugular vein usually overlaps the common carotid artery. The left vein is generally smaller than the right, and each contains a pair of valves, which are placed about 2.5 cm. above the termination of the vessel.


FIG. 559– Veins of the tongue. The hypoglossal nerve has been displaced downward in this preparation. (Testut after Hirschfeld.) (See enlarged image)

Tributaries.—This vein receives in its course the inferior petrosal sinus, the common facial, lingual, pharyngeal, superior and middle thyroid veins, and sometimes the occipital. The thoracic duct on the left side and the right lymphatic duct on the right side open into the angle of union of the internal jugular and subclavian veins.
  The Inferior Petrosal Sinus (sinus petrosus inferior) leaves the skull through the anterior part of the jugular foramen, and joins the superior bulb of the internal jugular vein.
  The Lingual Veins (vv. linguales) begin on the dorsum, sides, and under surface of the tongue, and, passing backward along the course of the lingual artery, end in the internal jugular vein. The vena comitans of the hypoglossal nerve (ranine