Correlations between anomalies of jugular veins and areas of vascular drainage of head and neck.

The study conducted on 60 human cadavers preserved in formalin, in the Anatomy Laboratory of the "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, during 2000-2006, observed the internal and external jugular veins from the point of view of their origin, course and affluents. The morphological variability of the jugular veins (external jugular that receives as affluents the facial and lingual veins and drains into the internal jugular, draining the latter's territory--3.33%; internal jugular that receives the lingual, upper thyroid and facial veins, independent--13.33%, via the linguofacial trunk--50%, and via thyrolinguofacial trunk--33.33%) made possible the correlation of these anomalies with disorders in the ontogenetic development of the veins of the neck. Knowing the variants of origin, course and drainage area of jugular veins is important not only for the anatomist but also for the surgeon operating at this level.