Inferior thyroid veins

Vein: Inferior thyroid veins
Inferior thyroid veins visible at center.
Latin	vena thyroidea inferioris
Gray's	subject #172 666
Drains from	thyroid gland
Drains to	brachiocephalic vein
Artery	inferior thyroid artery
Dorlands / Elsevier	v_05/12852050

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The inferior thyroid veins two, frequently three or four, in number, arise in the venous plexus on the thyroid gland, communicating with the middle and superior thyroid veins.

They form a plexus in front of the trachea, behind the Sternothyreoidei.

From this plexus, a left vein descends and joins the left innominate trunk, and a right vein passes obliquely downward and to the right across the innominate artery to open into the right innominate vein, just at its junction with the superior vena cava; sometimes the right and left veins open by a common trunk in the latter situation.

These veins receive esophageal tracheal, and inferior laryngeal veins, and are provided with valves at their terminations in the innominate veins.

Additional images

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  The arch of the aorta, and its branches.

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  The fascia and middle thyroid veins.

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  The thymus of a full-time fetus, exposed in situ.

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.