Neck Spaces

You may be shocked that we re mentioning triangles here as you probably didn t enroll in anatomy because you love maths.

Neck spaces. But don t worry these triangles are not hard to remember and they are very important for understanding neck anatomy. The neck spaces are often divided into the suprahyoid between the base of the skull and hyoid bone and infrahyoid between the hyoid bone and clavicles spaces as the anatomy of the deep cervical fascia is slightly different above and below the hyoid bone. These spaces are important from the point of view of clinician because of the propensity of infections to involve this space and to spread along these spaces to involve other areas like the mediastinum. Some spaces cross the hyoid bone and course the entire neck.

Axial graphic a ct b and t1 weighted mr c images show the normal anatomy of the parapharyngeal space pps. Retropharyngeal space between visceral division of middle layer and alar division of deep layer extend from skull base to t2 level more common in children due to presence of retropharyngeal node. Space involving entire length of neck 1. This space predominantly contains fat and can be easily identified arrows in b and c on both ct hypodense on ct and mr bright on t1 weighted sequences images.

Arrangement of superficial and deep layers of cervical fascia the importance of this spaces is that they may limit to some degree the spread of most infections and some tumors a proper understanding of their anatomy will also aid in the diagnosis of various conditions. Infections involving fascial spaces of the head and neck may give varying signs and symptoms depending upon the spaces involved. The neck triangles are actually spaces bordered by the neck muscles. Many of these spaces could as well be inconsequential.