FIGURE 3.

Lymphatic drainage of the dorsum and the base of the tongue. The mapped arrows show the direction of drainage of lymph fluid from the base of the tongue predominantly to the lymph nodes of levels II and III. Lymph fluid of the mucosa located around the midline flows vertically to the submandibular (anterior tongue) and upper jugular lymph nodes (posterior tongue) by way of 5 to 7 collectors located between the genioglossal muscles. Modified from Ref. 46, with permission from John Wiley & Sons.