Quick Facts
Location: Along the course of the transverse cervical artery, anterior to anterior and middle scalene muscles.
Drainage: Lymph nodes of the head via the accessory chain or internal jugular nodes.
Direction of Flow: Jugular trunk > thoracic duct (left) or right lymphatic duct.
Description
The supraclavicular nodes consist of between four and twelve nodes located along the transverse cervical artery. These structures have a close anatomical relation with the jugular chain.
The supraclavicular nodes are often found located hear the venous angle on the anterior scalene muscle, these are called scalene nodes. When occurring on the left side of the body, these nodes can receive efferents from the abdominal cavity and are therefore sentinel nodes of cancer of the abdomen, specifically gastric, ovarian, testicular, and kidney cancer.
Laterally, the supraclavicular chain is connected to the accessory chain and thus serves as the main afferent pathway of the accessory chain. Additionally, the supraclavicular nodes receive afferents from the skin in the anterolateral neck and chest wall (Földi et al., 2012).
List of Clinical Correlates
—Metastatic deposits from malignancies of the hypopharynx, subglottic larynx, trachea, thyroid, and cervical esophagus
References
Földi, M., Földi, E., Strößenreuther, R. and Kubik, S. (2012) Földi's Textbook of Lymphology: for Physicians and Lymphedema Therapists. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Supraclavicular Lymph Node
The supraclavicular lymph nodes play a role in the drainage of structures of the head and neck as exemplified in studies tracking metastases of head and neck tumors such as papillary thyroid cancer.
