title: Levator glandulae thyroideae muscle with three slips.
abstract: Anatomical variations in the musculature surrounding the thyroid gland have the potential to cause iatrogenic injuries during neck and thyroid surgical procedures. Herein is presented a unilateral case found in an 83-year-old Caucasian female cadaver during a surgical mock thyroidectomy. The thyroid gland had a small pyramidal lobe with three muscular slips of levator glandulae thryroideae (LGT) muscle and a large tributary of the inferior thyroid vein descending posteriorly along the muscular slips. The nerve and arterial supply of the LGT was a twig of the ansa cervicalis and muscular branches from the superior thyroid artery, respectively. Clinicians who interpret imaging of the neck or surgeons who operate in the neck and especially on or near the thyroid gland should be aware of such a variation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, St George's University, Grenada, School of Medicine, West Indies. mloukas@sgu.edu
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loukas
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Merbs
authors.forename: R Shane
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tubbs
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Curry
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jordan
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013965:Thyroidectomy