Fig 1.
Diagram outlining the posterior triangle of the neck.
The posterior triangle of the neck is shown by the blue outline. The adipose depot of the supraclavicular region is located in the inferior (lower) portion of the posterior triangle. The origin of the cervical plexus and its branches mainly lie in the superior (upper) part of the posterior triangle.
Fig 2.
Lateral view of left side of dissected specimens.
Dissected specimens showing depot of supraclavicular adipose tissue and surrounding nerves in the posterior triangle of the neck. (A) Specimen number 2. Innervation to adipose tissue as direct branch from cervical plexus. (B) Specimen number 1. Innervation to adipose tissue as branch of supraclavicular nerve. 1 = sternocleidomastoid muscle; 2 = clavicle (cut in B); 3 = omohyoid muscle (A); 4 = trapezius muscle; 5 = supraclavicular depot of adipose tissue; 6 = nerve innervating supraclavicular adipose tissue; 7 = dorsal scapular nerve (A); 8 = subcutaneous white adipose tissue (A); 9 = Branches of cervical plexus marked by the box; 10 = transverse cutaneous nerve of the neck (A); 11 = supraclavicular nerve; A = anterior; P = posterior; S = superior; I = inferior.
Table 1.
Details of cadaver specimens.
Fig 3.
Comparison of adipocyte morphology.
(A) Example of white adipocytes from axilla stained with hematoxylin and eosin. (B) Example of the darker BAT-like adipocytes from supraclavicular region stained with hematoxylin and eosin. (C) Adipocyte mean cross sectional area (± SEM) of adipose from axilla (Ax) (n = 75 adipocytes from one specimen) versus adipocytes from supraclavicular region (Sc) (n = 75 adipocytes from the same specimen). **** indicates p<0.001 by two-tailed Student’s t-test.
Fig 4.
Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in adipose tissue.
BAT-like adipocytes taken from the supraclavicular region imaged with (A) brightfield microscopy, (C) fluorescence microscopy, (E) brightfield and fluorescence merged, (G) brightfield and fluorescence merged and zoomed in. White adipocytes taken from the axilla imaged with (B) brightfield microscopy, (D) fluorescence microscopy, (F) brightfield and fluorescence merged, (H) brightfield and fluorescence merged and zoomed in. D, F and H were captured with 10x longer exposure time than C, E and G.