Pretracheal nodes
Nodi pretracheales
Lymph nodes in front of the cervical trachea, below the isthmus of the thyroid gland.
At a glance
- English
- Pretracheal nodes
- Latin (TA2)
- Nodi pretracheales
- System
- Lymphatic
- Region
- Neck
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the pretracheal nodes
The pretracheal nodes are deep anterior cervical nodes lying on the front of the trachea in the lower neck, below the isthmus of the thyroid gland. They sit in the pretracheal layer of deep cervical fascia, deep to the infrahyoid strap muscles, and are usually small and few. Just above them, on the cricothyroid membrane, lie the prelaryngeal nodes; on each side of the trachea lie the paratracheal nodes.
The inferior thyroid veins descend over the front of the trachea through this area towards the brachiocephalic veins, and in some people a small thyroid ima artery climbs up the midline. Near the root of the neck the brachiocephalic artery crosses the trachea obliquely, and the nodes may continue down into the superior mediastinum.
These nodes collect lymph from the isthmus and lower parts of the thyroid gland, from the larynx below the vocal folds and from the front of the cervical trachea. Their outflow passes to the paratracheal nodes and to the lower deep cervical nodes along the internal jugular vein, and some vessels continue down to the mediastinal nodes.
In neck staging the pretracheal nodes are part of the central compartment, level VI. Thyroid cancer and cancers of the lower larynx can spread to them, so they are examined on ultrasound and may be cleared with the paratracheal nodes during thyroid surgery. They lie on the route of a tracheostomy, so an enlarged node may be met during that procedure.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Afferent vessels from the thyroid isthmus and lower thyroid, the subglottic larynx and the cervical trachea.
- Drains into
- Efferent vessels pass to the paratracheal and inferior deep cervical nodes, and partly to the upper mediastinal nodes.
- Drains
- Filters lymph from the lower thyroid, lower larynx and front of the trachea. Part of the central neck compartment cleared in thyroid and laryngeal cancer.
Anthromica
See the pretracheal nodes 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.
