Tag: funfact

Posted on

Fun Fact: External Jugular Vein

Anatomy def: The paired external jugular veins are superficial vessels draining blood from the exterior cranium (Anatomy Lesson #60 Let’s Mull the Skull!) and deep facial structures toward the heart.  

Outlander def: Large neck veins often increasing in diameter as blood pressure rises – think of  a hotly contested stramash, such as “I will marry him” vs. “no, ye will not!!!” The neck veins tend to stand out. <G>

Learn about the external jugular vein (EJV) in Anatomy Lesson #12, Claire’s Neck or The Ivory Tower.

Each EJV descends through the neck from the angle of mandible (lower jaw) to middle of the clavicle (collar bone), collecting blood from the outer skull and deep face.

Try this: Turn your neck to one side and look in a mirror.  Can you see a blue line stretching from the angle of your jaw to your clavicle? This is the EJV. If you have no luck, try looking at a friend or family member. These veins are not always visible so don’t despair if you canna located them. 

BTW, although veins appear blue or green under the skin, they are neither color. Various factors including light absorption, light scattering and reflection, less oxygen in venous blood and veins being closer to the surface all help account for this odd color change, an phenom known as the Tyndall effect.

Read about the EJV in Drums of Autumn book.  Here the character’s name is not disclosed as the TV show has yet to catch up with the book (hurry, S4!). But, book readers will ken who Claire is doctoring. The pulsing vein Diana describes, is, indeed, the EJV! 

I didn’t need to check his heart; his head was turned, and I could see the huge vein that ran down the side of his neck, throbbing with a pulse slow and heavy as a hammer blow. I touched him, feeling his skin cool and damp. No fever, no signs of shock. The whole of his enormous person radiated peace and well-being.

Now, wait a sec!!! Arteries pulse, but do veins pulse like arteries? Generally speaking, not that we can see.  However, the right EJV may show a pulse because it lies very close to the right atrium of the heart. Put simply, as the right atrium contracts, blood pressure in the EJV may be seen as a pulse. Hence, Diana’s description is accurate. Score!

See Marsali’s external jugular vein in Starz ep 309, The Doldrums. Pugnacious lass that she is, she casts her stepdad a defiant look.  She will have Fergus no matter what da says!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Follow me on:

Photo Credit: Sony/Starz

Posted on

Fun Fact: Scapula

Outlander episode 312, The Bakra

Anatomy def: Scapulae are paired, flat triangular bones, each forming the back part of the human shoulder – commonly known as the shoulder blades.

Outlander def: Twin blades, shadowed and drenched with goats’ blood, reveal themselves to a terrified young Ian. Puir lad!

Learn about scapulae in Anatomy Lesson #2, When Claire Meets Jamie or How to Fall in Love While Reducing a Dislocated Shoulder Joint! 

Scapulae are extremely important bones because together with each upper arm bone (humerus) they form the shoulder joints. Large, flat and triangular in shape, each scapula also creates the point of the shoulder (acromion) and provide important attachments for muscles such as trapezius, deltoid, and biceps brachii. Fractures of the scapula commonly take 6-8 weeks to heal and some types may require surgery to stabilize. Ergo, take good care of your scapulae!

Read about Jamie’s scapulae in Voyager book. Ahhhh….well, this passage contains a wee bit more anatomical detail than just shoulder blades! <G>

He made a small grunting sound of content as I moved his head into my lap and began to stroke it, rubbing his temples, smoothing back the thick wavy mass of his hair. The back of his neck was damp; I lifted the hair away and blew softly on it, seeing the smooth fair skin prickle into gooseflesh at the nape of his neck.

“Oh, that feels good,” he murmured. Despite my resolve not to touch him beyond the demands of caretaking until everything between us was resolved, I found my hands molding themselves to the clean, bold lines of his neck and shoulders, seeking the hard knobs of his vertebrae and the broad, flat planes of his shoulder blades.

See Geillis’ scapulae emerge from a film of goats’ blood in Outlander episode 312, The Bakra. What a vision!!!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Follow me on:

Photo Credit: Sony/Starz

Posted on

Fun Fact: Clavicle

 

Outlander episode 313, Eye of the Storm 

Anatomy def: Either of two slender bones of the upper limb, each clavicle extends horizontally from sternum (breastbone) to respective scapula (shoulder blade). Clavicles are commonly known as collarbones (one word) because of their proximity to the collar of a donned garment.

Outlander def: Clavicles are powerful bones Jamie joyfully shares with Claire aboard the Artemis! Put yer wee bonny fingers on them, dearest Auntie Claire! <G>

Learn about clavicles in Anatomy Lesson #3, Bad Day at Cocknammon Rock or Wee Bonny Fingers on my Collar Bone!

You might be interested in this anatomical tidbit: In humans, clavicles act as struts to position shoulder joints and arms at the sides of the body. Positioning our upper limbs to our sides allows for much greater ranges of motion. Without clavicles, our shoulders would drop in front of the chest, like those of a cat, dog or horse! Our upper limbs could move forwards and backwards, but no slow pitch or jumping jacks with those limitations!

Why, might you ask, is the clavicle named for a Latin word meaning, door bolt? Well, clavicles are the only horizontally-oriented long bones of the body and to early anatomists, they looked a bit like ye olde door bolts of by-gone eras.

Read about clavicles in Voyager book! Actually, keep your eye out, Herself often describes collarbones in all Outlander books.

“Perhaps it does. Shall I try sometime?” The hollow of his throat lay just by my face, sunburned and delicate, showing the faint white triangle of a scar just above the wide arch of his collarbone. I set my lips on the pulsebeat there, and he shivered, though neither of us was cold any longer.

and again:

“Do you want me now?” I whispered, and kissed the sunburned flesh in the hollow above his collarbone. His skin was faintly salty to the taste, and his hair smelled of woodsmoke and pungent maleness.

See Jamie’s clavicles drenched in sunbeams from windows of the Artemis. – a splendid temptation for canny, clever Claire!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Follow me on:

Photo Credits: Sony/Starz, Pinterest