Inferior thyroid veins Inferior thyroid veins The inferior thyroid veins appear two, frequently three or four, in number, and arise in the venous plexus on the thyroid gland, communicating with the middle and superior thyroid veins. While the superior and middle thyroid veins serve as direct tributaries to the internal jugular vein, the inferior thyroid veins drain directly to the brachiocephalic veins. They form a plexus in front of the trachea, behind the Sternothyreoidei. From this plexus, a left vein descends and joins the left brachiocephalic vein, and a right vein passes obliquely downward and to the right across the brachiocephalic artery to
Fascial spaces of the head and neck rare and are associated with marked trismus. The pterygomandibular space lies between the medial side of the ramus of the mandible and the lateral surface of the medial pterygoid muscle. The infra-temporal space is the inferior portion of the deep temporal space. Modern understanding of the fascial spaces of the head and neck developed from the landmark research of Grodinsky and Holyoke in the 1930s. They injected a dye into cadevers to simulate pus. Their hypothesis was that infection in the head and neck mainly spread by hydrostatic pressure. This is now accepted to be true for most infections in