Cervical Spine Flashcards
How many vertebrae in an adult?
26
How many vertebrae in a child?
33
What many intervertebral discs?
23
What percentage of the spine’s height is from the intervertebral discs?
25%
What is the spine’s primary curve?
Kyphosis
What is the spine’s secondary curve?
Lordosis
In which regions of the spine do you find the primary curves?
Thoracic and Sacral
In which regions of the spine do you find the secondary curves?
Cervical and Lumbar
How many segments present in the cervical, thoracic, lumbar regions?
7,12,5
True or False: Cervical vertebral bodies are wider side to side that AP
True
True or False: Cervial vertebral bodies have superior and inferior endplates
True
True or False: Inferior endplates are convex side to side
True
True or False: Inferior endplates are concave AP
True
What is the purpose of the uncovertebral joint?
Stabilize lateral flexion
What creates the uncoverterbal joints?
Uncinate processes
Semi-lunar Facet
From what degree to sagittal are the pedicles of the cervical vertebrae?
45
To which structure do the pedicles connect the vertebral body?
Articular pillars
In the cervical spine, what do the pedicles help create?
Bottom boundary of intervertebral foramen
How are the pedicles of the cervical spine different from the pedicles in the thoracic or lumbar spines?
Pedicles are circular - thoracic and lumbar pedicles are more ovoid
What shape are the transverse processes in the cervical spine?
Half-pipe shaped
What degree to sagittal are the transverse processes in the cervical spine?
60 degrees sagittal
What degree to transverse are the transverse processes in the cervical spine?
15 degrees transverse
What is another name for the uncovertebral joint?
Luschka Joint (joint of von luschka)
If disc height decreases at the uncovertebral joints, what is likely to start forming?
Osteophytes
From where does the anterior root of the transverse processes arise?
Vertebral body
From where does the posterior root of the transverse process arise?
Articular pillar or pedicle
What purpose do the tubercles serve on the transverse processes of the cervical vertebra?
Attachment sites for ligaments and muscles
What does the transverse foramen house within the cervical spine?
Vertebral Artery
What is the posterior ponticle?
The bony bridge on the atlas that covers the groove for the vertebral artery
The articular pillars transition into what two other landmarks in the thoracic and lumbar spines?
Superior articular process
Inferior articular process
Describe the directionality of the cervical facet joints.
Facet joints are 45 degrees to the transverse plane
The superior facet joint faces upward and posterior
The inferior facet joint face anterior and downward
At what degree to transverse are the facet joints in the cervical spine
45 degrees to transverse