Musculophrenic veins
Venae musculophrenicae
Small paired veins running along the inner costal margin with the musculophrenic artery, draining the lower chest wall and diaphragm into the internal thoracic vein.
At a glance
- English
- Musculophrenic veins
- Latin (TA2)
- Venae musculophrenicae
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the musculophrenic veins
The musculophrenic veins are the companion veins of the musculophrenic artery, one of the two terminal branches of the internal thoracic artery. They lie on the inner surface of the anterior chest wall, behind the costal cartilages of the lower ribs, and follow the curve of the costal margin downwards and laterally. Here they sit at the junction of the chest wall and the diaphragm, which explains their name: they serve both muscle of the wall and the diaphragm.
Along their course they collect the anterior intercostal veins of the lower intercostal spaces, small veins from the costal part of the diaphragm, and twigs from the upper anterior abdominal wall muscles that attach near the costal margin. Traced upwards, the veins reach the point behind the sixth intercostal space where the musculophrenic and superior epigastric vessels meet. They join the internal thoracic vein there, and that vein in turn carries the blood up behind the costal cartilages to the brachiocephalic vein.
The musculophrenic veins therefore form part of a long chain of veins inside the front of the trunk. Through the superior epigastric veins this chain connects with the inferior epigastric veins and so with the external iliac system, giving a possible bypass between the superior and inferior venae cavae when one of them is blocked.
Clinically they are minor vessels, but they lie in the field of procedures at the costal margin, such as the placement of chest drains low on the front of the chest or operations on the diaphragm, and they travel with the artery in any dissection of the internal thoracic vessels.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begin from the anterior intercostal veins of the lower spaces, the diaphragm and the upper abdominal wall near the costal margin.
- Drains into
- End in the internal thoracic vein, behind the lower costal cartilages.
- Drains
- Drain the lower anterior intercostal spaces, the anterior part of the diaphragm and adjoining upper abdominal wall.
Anthromica
See the musculophrenic veins 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.
