Autopsic Investigations of the Morphological Variations of the Internal Jugular Venous Valve

The internal jugular vein is a popular route for central venous catheter placement. The internal jugular veins are important venous vessels for returning blood from the brain. The internal jugular vein valves are the only venous valves between the heart and the brain. Internal jugular valve incompetence may result in retrograde cerebral venous flow during coughing and other precipitating activities. We investigated forty cadavers from legal autopsies to observe the morphological variations of the internal jugular venous valve. Valves were present bilaterally in 38 (95.0%) subjects and unilaterally in 2 (5.0%) subjects. Bicuspid valves were present in 70.5% of the valves we examined. Since the internal jugular vein is increasingly used for vascular access, knowledge about and evaluation of these valves may be useful in clinical practice to avoid damaging them during percutaneous procedures.