The relations of the superior pole of the stellate ganglion to the vertebral artery.

The relations of the superior pole of the stellate ganglion to the vertebral artery and to the transverse processes of the last cervical and the first thoracic vertebrae were studied in 440 specimens (220 adult human embalmed cadavers). The superior pole of the ganglion was found, most commonly, within an "arterial triangle" bordered by the subclavian, the common carotid and the vertebral arteries (75.8%), at the level of the inferior third of the vertebral artery (79.8%) and anterior to the interval between the transverse process of the seventh cervical and the first thoracic vertebrae (48.6%). The variations of these locations of the stellate ganglion, found in this study, may be of significant surgical anatomical importance.