Angular vein
Vena angularis
A short vein at the inner corner of the eye that forms the uppermost part of the facial vein beside the nose.
At a glance
- English
- Angular vein
- Latin (TA2)
- Vena angularis
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the angular vein
The angular vein is the first stretch of the facial vein. It forms at the medial canthus, the inner corner of the eye, where the supratrochlear and supraorbital veins from the forehead come together. From there it runs obliquely downwards along the side of the nose, beside the angular artery, and the vessel takes the name facial vein once it has received the superior labial vein near the corner of the mouth.
On its way it collects the inferior palpebral vein from the lower eyelid and the external nasal veins draining the nasal ala. Its territory therefore takes in the region around the medial canthus, much of the outer nose and the upper lip. Lower down the facial vein passes deep to zygomaticus major on its way to the cheek.
At its upper end the vein is joined to the orbit. Its link with the supraorbital vein continues back as the superior ophthalmic vein, which runs through the orbit to the cavernous sinus, and through that route it also communicates with the inferior ophthalmic vein. These ophthalmic channels have no effective valves, so blood can move in either direction between the face and the inside of the skull.
This connection is the anatomical basis of the facial danger triangle, the area between the bridge of the nose and the corners of the mouth. Infection there, for example from a squeezed boil on the nose or upper lip, can spread backwards along the angular and ophthalmic veins and cause septic thrombosis of the cavernous sinus, threatening the cranial nerves that run through it. A clot in the angular vein can also complicate endovascular access to the cavernous sinus, which is sometimes approached through this vein.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Formed at the medial canthus by the union of the supratrochlear and supraorbital veins.
- Drains into
- Continues as the facial vein once the superior labial vein has joined it; communicates above with the superior ophthalmic vein.
- Drains
- Drains the medial canthus, the lower eyelid, the side of the nose and part of the upper lip.
Anthromica
See the angular vein where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
