Using the necessary instruments to perform the dissection of the cadaver and with the dissection guides provided by the professor of the subject, the medical students of the Universidad del Valle de Cali who studied the macroscopic anatomy of the cadavers reached 2006,
In one of the dissected cadavers, male and mestizo ethnicity, some anatomical variations of interest were found.
From the clinical history it was possible to know that the subject was 56 years old; its cause of death was pneumonia and no relevant clinical history was reported.
In order to have the photographic record of the anatomical variations found, the teacher performed a more detailed and thorough dissection of the right side of the neck.
By isolating the inferior thyroid artery, it was found that it seemed to be a vein that drained into the right internal jugular vein.
Following the descending direction of the structure, he discovered that it was the thoracic duct.
In the mentioned cadaver, the position of the thoracic duct in the posterior mediastinum was the same as that traditionally described, but in the upper mediastinum in a paulatine way it deviated to the right, it ascended in the right and in the neck.
Figure 2 shows the posterior mediastinum of the thoracic cavity.
On the left side the descending aorta appears and the esophagus was reclined to the right to discover the thoracic duct.
This is seen as a thin, smooth, white strand that courses between the descending aorta and the azygos vein, in front of the vertebral bodies.
It shows how it gradually shifts toward the right side.
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Figure 3 shows the thoracic duct in the neck, where it describes a slight convex curve upwards to drain into the right internal jugular vein.
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Figure 4 shows the right internal jugular vein and its drainage from the thoracic duct.
