Abstract
The literatures on the azygos venous system were reviewed. Anatomical and anthropologica investigations were conducted on variations in this system on 24 Japanese from Northern Kyushu. The azygos venous system consists of three parts : the azygos vein, the hemiazygos vein, and the accessory hemiazygos vein. Among these three veins the accessory hemiazygos veins were observed in almost all cases(23 cases : 95.5%). This frequency is higher than those frequencies observed by predecessors(Tokudome and Rokutanda). There were some noteworthy cases in which the azygos vein and the accessory hemiazygos vein were connected with both the brachiocephalic vein and the vertebral vein.
