title: A rare variation of the digastric muscle.
abstract: The digastric muscle is composed by two muscle bellies: an anterior and a posterior, joined by an intermediate tendon. This muscle is situated in the anterior region of the neck. The region between the hyoid bone and the mandible is divided by an anterior belly into two triangles: the submandibular situated laterally and the submental triangle which is located medially. We found that the anatomical variations described in the literature relate mainly to the anterior belly and consist of differences in shape and attachment of the muscle. During routine dissection in February 2013 in the section hall of the Department of Anatomy and Histology in Medical University - Sofia we came across a very interesting variation of the digastric muscle. The digastric muscles that presented anatomical variations were photographed using a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 camera, with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. We found out bilateral variation of the digastric muscle in one cadaver. The anterior bellies were very thin and insert to the hyoid bone. Two anterior bellies connect each other and thus they formed a loop. The anatomical variations observed of our study related only to the anterior belly, as previously described by other authors. It is very important to consider the occurrence of the above mentioned variations in the digastric muscle when surgical procedures are performed on the anterior region of the neck.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Histology, Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Manol
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kalniev
authors.affiliation: Medical College "Jordanka Filaretova", Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Dimo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krastev
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Histology, Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krastev
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Kalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vidinov
authors.affiliation: State Hospital, Biala Slatina, General Surgery, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Ludmil
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veltchev
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine and Deontology, Medical University, Sofia.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apostolov
authors.affiliation: Medical College "Jordanka Filaretova", Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Milka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mileva
keywords: digastric muscle; hyoid bone; neck muscles; variations