Vertebral vein

Vein: Vertebral vein
The vertebral vein. (Vertebral labeled at upper left and center right.)
Latin	vena vertebralis
Gray's	subject #168 649
Source	deep cervical vein
Drains to	brachiocephalic vein
Artery	vertebral artery
Dorlands / Elsevier	v_05/12852212

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

The vertebral vein is formed in the suboccipital triangle, from numerous small tributaries which spring from the internal vertebral venous plexuses and issue from the vertebral canal above the posterior arch of the atlas.

They unite with small veins from the deep muscles at the upper part of the back of the neck, and form a vessel which enters the foramen in the transverse process of the atlas, and descends, forming a dense plexus around the vertebral artery, in the canal formed by the foramina transversaria of the cervical vertebrae.

This plexus ends in a single trunk, which emerges from the foramen transversarium of the sixth cervical vertebra, and opens at the root of the neck into the back part of the innominate vein near its origin, its mouth being guarded by a pair of valves.

On the right side, it crosses the first part of the subclavian artery.

Additional images

• 

  Section of the neck at about the level of the sixth cervical vertebra.

External links

• Vertebral+vein at eMedicine Dictionary

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 As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated.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.