Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus III: Nervous System

Variations in Intraparotid Portion of Facial Nerve.

Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed

These authors dissected 68 facial nerves from within the substance of the parotid gland. They recognized two major classes and five "types" of facial nerve branching from 59 of the 68 dissections. Class 1 (35 cases): Facial nerves without anastomoses between branches after their initial branching from the nerve trunk. Class 2 (24 cases): Facial nerves with anastomoses between the cervicotemporal branches, which form intraglandular plexuses.

Class 1

1. (Type 1): Classical variety (15 cases).
2. (Type 2): Variety with precocious branching (11 cases).
3. (Type 3): Rare variety with ladder-like branching (9 cases). It was considered a difficult type to dissect.

Class 2.

4. (Type 4): Variety with long anastomotic loops (13 cases).
5. (Type 5): Variety with short anastomotic loops between the cervical and temporal branches and all arising from a common stem (11 cases).

Redrawn and modified from Dargent, M. and P.E. Duroux. Donnees anatomiques concernant la morphologie et certains rapports du facial intra- parotidien. La Presse Medicale No. 37, pp. 523-524, 1946.

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