Bilateral accessory anterior bellies of the digastric muscle and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our paper is discussing anomalies of the anterior belly of the digastric muscle with presenting our case in light literature. METHODS: During dissection of the submental region of 26 years old Turkish female embedded cadaver, for this educational purpose in 2000, bilateral accessory digastric muscle was observed. RESULTS: The anterior and posterior bellies of the digastric muscle had their normal origin and course and were joined by an intermediate tendon, the accessory anterior bellies originated from the digastric fossa, and inserted to the hyoid bone, with a common fibrous band. The accessory anterior bellies of the digastric muscle were in the same shape and coursed parallel to each other. CONCLUSION: Anatomical variations of the anterior bellies of the digastric muscles can be easily confused with pathological conditions in CT and MR imaging, it is necessary to recognize that muscle variants of the digastric muscle occur to avoid confusion when diagnosing abnormal lesions of the floor of the mouth and submental region. In human body, such as these muscle variations have clinical significance.