A Case of a Previously Unreported Drainage of the Maxillary Vein

Due to the importance of venous drainage of the head and neck in various pathological conditions, knowledge of anatomical variations is important to the clinician. Here we report a case of an unusual drainage pattern of the maxillary vein. A tributary of the left maxillary vein was found in a female cadaver (72 years old at the time of death) to travel through the medial aspect of the ramus of the mandible via an accessory mandibular foramen, which drains into the ipsilateral facial vein slightly proximal to the point where the anterior branch of the retromandibular and facial veins merged to form the left common facial vein. The diameter of the variant vein at the junction with the maxillary vein and at the junction with the facial vein was 1.0 mm and 1.1 mm, respectively. We report a previously unreported variant of the maxillary vein bypassing the retromandibular vein and draining directly into the facial vein. Knowledge of such a variant might help explain various complications such as hemorrhage and might prevent iatrogenic injury of the blood vessels during surgery in this region.