Cervical Spine Flashcards
How many cervical vertebrae are there?
7 cervical vertebrae
What are the vertebrae in the upper cervical spine?
C0-C2
What are the vertebrae in the lower cervical spine?
C3-C7
What type of spinal curve is the cervical spine?
Cervical Lordosis
What vertebrae have no disc?
C1-C2
How many interverbal discs are there?
6 thin interverbal discs
How many pairs of spinal nerves are there in the cervical spine?
8 pairs of spinal nerves in cervical spine
What vertebrae afe included in the Typical cervical?
C3-C6
What vertebrae are included in the Atypical of cervical spine?
C1
C2
C7
What are the features of a Typical cervical vertebrae?
- Large triangular vertebral foramen
- Short spinous process bifid
- Articular process in oblique plane
- Small and wide vertebral body
What is the features of Atypical vertebral C1?
- Atlas
- No vertebral body
- No spinous process
- Presence of lateral masses
- Widest cervical vertebrae
- Longer and more lateral transverse processes
What is the features of Atypical vertebrae C2?
- Axis
2. Presebce of dens which is odontoid peg
What is the key feature of Atypical vertebrae C7?
- Vertebral prominens
2. Non bifid spinous process
What are the cervial vertevral unique characteristics?
- Saddle shaped vertbral body
- Triangular vertebral foramen
- Transverse foramen
- Short transverse processes C2-7
- Bifid spinous process C2-6
- Uncinate processes C3-7
What are the 6 facts about the cervical intervertebral discs?
- no disc between C1 and C2
- Discs are thicker anteriorly cos of lordosis
- Disc degenerative change at age 15
- C5/6 disc most vulnerable
Disc is reinforced by the uncovertebral joint - Cervical disc loading affected by head weight and posture
How are the spinal nerve organised in the cervical spine?
- Cervical spinal nerves C1-7 emerge above their corresponding vertebrae
- Cervical spine nerve 8 exits below to the C7 vertebrae
- Cervical spinal nerve C5 exits between C5 and C4
- Cervical spinal nerve C8 exits betwen C7 and T1
All spinal nerves ij the thoratic and lumbar regions exits below their corrosponding verteabrae
What are the 5 joints in the cervical spine?
- Atlanto occipital joint C0,1
- Atlanto axial joint C1,2
- Zygapophyseal joints
- Unconvertebral joints
- Intervertebral joints