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Thrombosed varicose vein in the sternocleidomastoid muscle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

Toshiro Nishimura ,
Akitaka Nonomura ,
Fumiaki Ueda  and
Mitsuru Furukawa
Toshiro Nishimura
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan
Akitaka Nonomura
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan
Fumiaki Ueda
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan
Mitsuru Furukawa
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan
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Abstract

A thrombosed varicose vein arising in the neck is quite rare. A 68-year-old Japanese male was referred to our hospital because of a mass in his left upper neck. The mass did not change in size in response to strain resulting from Valsalva’s manouvre. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed iso-signal intensity of the mass on T1-weighted images and a target-like signal arrangement (concentric hyper-, hypo-, hyper-signal intensity from outside to inside) on T2-weighted images. Surgical excision revealed that the tumour arose from the intramuscular small vein in the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The pathological examination revealed the mass to be a thrombosed varicose vein with capillarization in the dilated vein wall. The de-oxygenation and degradation of haemoglobin were thought to be responsible for these characteristic MRI findings. The concentric signal distribution on MRI strongly suggested this pathology.

Keywords

Varicose VeinsNeckMagnetic Resonance Imaging
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 116 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 67 - 69
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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