Cephalic vein with a supraclavicular course

Variations of the cephalic vein anterior to the clavicle in humans

“…The percentage of each CV type and subtype in all the reported cases is listed in Values represent frequencies and percentages. All the percentages were rounded to the nearest whole number [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13,14,17,18,19,20,22,25].…”

“…In cases of central venous line in-sertion that requires critical central venous access from the subclavian vein, the CV cut-down method is employed at the deltopectoral triangle to insert a catheter under visual inspection [12]. Although vessel variation in the CV has not been reported to cause serious complications, it can cause some difficulties [2].…”

Supraclavicular course of the left cephalic vein: Rare anatomical variant

“…Further, it is important to know about the communication between the cephalic vein and subclavian vein across the clavicle because in case of fracture of clavicle the cephalic vein may bleed profusely and during catheterization it may get punctured to the overlying skin, and structures on the pectoral area leading to damage. Moreover, if guide wire punctures the subclavian vein, there is a risk of damage to vital structures in the supraclavicular fossa [20]. Therefore, the knowledge of the supraclavicular course of the cephalic vein would help to reduce iatrogenic complications such as erosion or collateral vascular damage.…”

Persistent jugulocephalic vein: case report including commentaries on distribution of valves, blood flow direction and embryology

“…The hazards related to both above-mentioned anomalies were emphasised by: Lau et al [7] who accentuates the possibility of 'damage to the vital structures in the thoracic inlet region', De Maria and Cappelli [5] as 'the risk of lead fracture or skin erosion over the clavicle', and Ramírez et al [11] who added the 'lead dysfunction, erosion or collateral vascular damage' to the complications mentioned above. If persistent JCV or an atypical supraclavicular course of the CV are detected, a selection of another point of vascular access is recommended in order to avoid complications [5,7,11].…”

“…Although in humans the CV typically drains into the axillary vein below clavicular level, basic literature on anatomy contains observations that it may sometimes communicate with the external jugular vein (EJV) 'via a branch anterior to the clavicle' [12]. Such a variation, developmentally corresponding to the persistent jugulocephalic vein (JCV), is typical of some non-human primates [4,13], and is only sporadically described in humans [4,5,[7][8][9][10][11]. While examining the CV in the deltopectoral triangle, Loukas et al [8] found a collateral branch between the CV and the EJV in 4 out of 200 limbs examined.…”