Clinical Significance of an Unusual Variation : Anomalous additional belly of the sternothyroid muscle

The infrahyoid muscles are involved in vocalisation and swallowing; among these, the sternothyroid muscle is derived from the common primitive sheet. The improper differentiation of this muscle may therefore result in morphological variations. We report an unusual variation found during the dissection of a 65-year-old male cadaver at the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College, Madagadipet, Pondicherry, India, in 2015. An anomalous belly of the right sternothyroid muscle was observed between the internal jugular (IJ) vein and the internal carotid artery with an additional insertion into the tympanic plate and petrous part of the temporal bone and the presence of a levator glandulae thyroideae muscle. The anomalous muscle may compress the IJ vein if it is related to the neurovascular structures of neck; hence, knowledge of variations of the infrahyoid muscles can aid in the evaluation of IJ vein compression among patients with idiopathic symptoms resulting from venous congestion

Effect of Ultrahigh Frequency Radiation Emitted from 2G Cell Phone on Developing Lens of Chick Embryo: A Histological Study

A Mobile phone in operation emits a pulsed radiofrequency electromagnetic field which is absorbed into the user’s body particularly the head region. Contradictory scientific reports on the health effect of nonionizing radiations on biological tissues have prompted to undertake the present study to evaluate the damage in the developing lens of a chick embryo following exposure to radiation emitted from a 2G cell phone. Fertilized chick embryos were incubated in two groups in a standard egg incubator. The experiment group was exposed to radiation emitted from a 2G cell phone. On completion of scheduled duration, the embryos were collected and processed for routine histological studies. The 9th to 12th day chick embryo eyes were processed for assessment of DNA damage using the alkaline comet assay technique. The lens thickness and the equatorial diameter were measured using oculometer and statistically compared for both groups. In the present study, the exposure of chick embryos to a 2G cell phone caused structural changes in lens epithelial cells, formation of cystic cells and spaces, distortion of lens fibers, and formation of posterior aberrant nuclear layer. The DNA damage in the developing eyes of the experiment group assessed by comet assay was highly significant