%0 Journal Article %T An Unusual Anatomical Variation of the Levator Scapulae Muscle %A Varj£żo Lima %A Gabriel %A Cabral %A Richard Halti %A Andrade %A Danilo Leite %A Lacerda %A Nayara Soares de Oliveira %A Ara¨²jo %A Vital Fernandes %A Masuko %A Telma Sumie %J International Journal of Morphology %D 2012 %I Scientific Electronic Library Online %R 10.4067/S0717-95022012000300016 %X clinical and surgical importance of the levator scapulae muscle (lsm) requires a better knowledge of its anatomic variation mainly because of the possibility of new findings related to the embryologic development. this article reports a case of a left-sided lsm with atypical attachments in a 58-year-old preserved caucasian female body. the muscle presented a bifurcation at its midpoint downward path. its medial band attached to the anterior aspect of the left rhomboideus major muscle while its left band was fixed in the superior angle of the scapula after releasing a muscle expansion to the serratus anterior muscle. the morphometric analysis revealed lsm maximal width of 3.6 cm, bifurcation point located 6.6 cm apart from the c1 vertebral attachment; medial band legth of 5.7 cm and lateral band width of 2.1cm. regarding anatomic variations of the lsm, they may remain unnoticed or perhaps contribute for pathologic conditions of the neck and the back. %K levator scapulae muscle %K anatomical variation %K macroscopic anatomy %K clinical anatomy %K muscular system. %U http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0717-95022012000300016&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en