A 57-year-old woman was examined by her physician and found to have right-sided heart failure. As the patient lay propped up on pillows in bed, her physician noticed that the blood in a superficial vein on the side of the neck (in the posterior triangle) could be easily seen.
-From the list of veins in the neck given below, select the most likely one that the physician could see.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The external jugular vein lies superficially beneath the platysma muscle and can be easily seen in a good light (in an obese patient it may be difficult to see). The vein serves as a useful venous manometer. It runs from the angle of the jaw to the midpoint of the clavicle (see text Fig. 6-10). The level of the blood in the vein normally reaches about one third of the way up the neck when the patient is lying at a horizontal angle of 30°. As the patient sits up, the blood level falls until the vein is no longer visible behind the clavicle.

A 57-Year-Old Woman Was Examined by Her Physician and Found