Case Report
Focal Ectasia of Internal Jugular Vein

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Introduction

Internal jugular vein ectasia is a venous anomaly commonly presenting as a unilateral neck swelling in children and adults. This condition is being increasingly recognized in recent years due to better imaging facilities [1]. There is a controversy about its etiology because there have been only sporadic reports of venous ectasia in the neck. The exact cause of this lesion still remains in question. Due to the rarity of this condition, a high index of suspicion is required once the other common causes are excluded. We present a case of focal ectasia of the internal jugular vein and discuss its management.

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Case Report

A 11 year old boy, presented with complaints of intermittent swelling on the right side of the neck, noticed initially at age of five years. The swelling was insidious in onset, gradually progressive with prominence of the swelling seen only on speaking loud, crying, straining or performing valsalva manoeuvre. There was no history of change in voice, difficulty in breathing or swallowing, trauma or previous surgery. Physical examination revealed normal neck at rest but on valsalva a 8×4 cm,

Discussion

Ectasia of the internal jugular vein is an isolated saccular or fusiform dilatation of the vein [2]. Other terms used in literature to describe this condition include, phlebectasia, venous aneurysm, venous cyst, aneurysmal varix and venectasia [2, 3]. Gruber first reported a phlebectasia of the lower part of the internal jugular vein in 1875 [4]. A variety of etiologic hypothesis have been proposed, which include anomalous reduplication of the internal jugular vein, increased scalenus anticus

Conflicts of Interest

None identified

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