Anatomical variations in the cephalic and omobrachial veins in the dog

In the dog, the blood from the antebrachial part of the cephalic vein is typically drained by three vessels: the axillobrachial, the omobrachial and the proximal segment of the cephalic vein. In this work, two anatomical variations affecting the omobrachial and the proximal part of the cephalic vein in dogs are reported. The bilateral absence of the omobrachial vein was observed in two adult mongrel dogs and the lack of the proximal segment of the cephalic vein in one dog. These differences suggest that a certain degree of variation is normal in the layout of the superficial veins of the thoracic limb in the dog and implies that the blood egress from the cephalic vein in the dog, as in other species, is sometimes accomplished by only two veins.