SUMMARY Despite the fact that the blueprint of the whole body is unraveled, faultlessly during the growth and development of an animal; amazing variations do occur. During routine dissection of head and neck in our Department of Anatomy, an unusual drainage pattern of the facial vein on the left side of the face of a middle aged male cadaver was observed. The facial vein presented a normal course from its origin up to the base of mandible, and then it crossed the base of the mandible posterior to the facial artery. Thereafter, it bifurcated with one limb terminating into the anterior jugular vein and another into the external jugular vein. In addition to that, we also noticed a variation in the formation of the external jugular vein on the same side, which was formed by the anterior and posterior divisions of the retromandibular vein and the posterior auricular vein. Sound anatomic knowledge of the variations in the veins of the head and the neck is essential to the success of surgical pro- cedures in this region. Key words: Anatomical variation – Facial vein – External jugular vein – Retromandibu- lar vein – Posterior auricular vein INTRODUCTION Deviation from the normal pattern in the vascular system is a common feature, and it is more common in the veins than in the arteries (Hollinshead, 1982). The complex embry- ological development of the vascular system often results in a myriad of clinically relevant anatomical variations and anomalies. Usually, the facial vein begins at the medial angle of the eye as the angular vein, by the union of the supra-trochlear and the supra-orbital veins. The superficial temporal vein unites with the maxillary vein to form the retromandibular vein. The retromandibular vein divides into the anterior and the posterior divisions within the substance of the parotid gland. The ante- rior division joins with the facial vein to form the common facial vein and it drains into the internal jugular vein. The posterior division, after union with the posterior auricular vein, continues as the external jugular vein which drains into the subclavian vein (Standring, 2006). Knowledge of the variations of the superfi- cial veins of the head and neck is important to surgeons as these veins may be used as patches for carotid endarterectomy and for oral recon- struction surgeries, where facial vein is often needed for microvascular anastomosis Eur J Anat, 16 (3): 212-215 (2012) 212 Variation in termination of facial vein - a rare case report Shilpa Bathla, Ritu Singroha, S.K. Srivastava Department of Anatomy, Pt. B.D.Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak-124001, Haryana (India) Corresponding author: Dr. Ritu Singroha. Dept. of Anatomy, Pt. B.D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak, H. No. 39, Sector-4, Rohtak-124001, Haryana (India). Phone: 09034377847. E-mail: ritusingroha@gmail.com Submitted: July 5, 2012 Accepted: September 3, 2012 CASE REPORT