Priority in classification of cervical fasciae

Abstract

Background: The neck is divided into two compartments: anterior compartment, which includes the organs with their fascial cellular structures and the posterior compartment, which is constituted of muscles with their fascial sheaths. Study of cervical fasciae represents major difficulties, because the authors did not synchronize over the time a common opinion about the fascia and terminology classification. In the manuals of anatomy in English, French and Russian the same formations are specified differently. Conclusions: The authors of contemporary textbooks and scientific articles describe equally the real anatomy of cervical fasciae in the anterior visceral compartment of the neck, where they are located, what structures envelop, how they delimitate the narrow clefts and large spaces between them, but in the different manner and using different terms for the same fascial leaves. Maybe there is no need to give preference to a concrete classification, of the 3 fasciae as in the official Anatomical Nomenclature or of the 5 fasciae as is in the textbook of V. N. Shevkunenko. It is enough to know the synonyms of the fascial leaves and consider their clinical significance in the spreading of infection, for opening the cervical phlegmons and performing the surgical approaches.