Demonstration of a musculus levator claviculae.

A musculus levator claviculae, a variant of M. sternocleidomastoideus was identified on the left side of the neck of a 56-year-old man with multiple cervical lymph node metastases from a non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the epipharynx. Its course is shown on CT scans. The superficial part of the muscle in the regio colli lateralis was also seen on inspection of the neck and photographed. A description of this muscle variant and an estimation of its frequency from the literature is provided. This muscle variant is easily recognised as an isolated finding but may not be appreciated in patients with head and neck cancer and multiple enlarged lymph nodes if the muscle is not followed continuously in its course. Rarely this may have an impact on tumour staging or treatment assessment.