ABSTRACT
A comprehensive account of the clinical anatomy of the head and neck would be incomplete without a consideration of the anatomy of the mediastinum. The contiguity of the root of the neck and the superior mediastinum allows the easy propagation of inflammatory and neoplastic conditions from one region to the other. Furthermore, abnormal embryological development may result in structures normally situated in the neck being aberrantly located in the mediastinum. Thus clinicians specializing in the management of diseases of the head and neck must possess more than a superficial knowledge of mediastinal anatomy.
