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Neurology > Spinal cord anatomical overview > Flashcards

Spinal cord anatomical overview Flashcards

1
Q

how many cervical segments of spine?

A

8

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2
Q

how many lumbar and sacral segments of spine?

A

5 each

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3
Q

Extenging from each section of the spine are:
8 ??? cervical spinal nerves, 12 pairs of thoracic spinal nerves, 5 pairs of lumber spinal nerves and 5 pairs of sacral spinal nerves

A

Pais of

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4
Q

TRUE or FALSE: Spinal nerves C1-C7 exit above their corresponding vertebral body, however from C8 spinal nerve onwards the spinal nerves exit below their corresponding vertebra

A

TRUE

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5
Q

The spinal cord ends at about vertebral level L1/2 as a cone shape called ???

A

conus medullari

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6
Q

In infants, the spinal cord reaches full adult length before the ???

A

vertebral canal

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7
Q

At what fetal stage do the vertebral canal and the spinal cord grow at the same rate? After this the body and the verterbral canal grow at a faster rate than the cord. At the time of birth the spinal cord ends at the third lumbar vertebrae.

A

third month

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8
Q

The spinal cord has 2 enlargements known as :
- ???
- Lumber

A

Cervical

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9
Q

Why does the spinal cord have 2 enlargements?

A

because extra neurons are needed at these levels to allow for innervation of the upper and lower limbs.

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10
Q

A dermatome is a ??? and an area they receive sensory innervation from

A

pair of spinal nerves

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11
Q

What kind of information do dorsal roots carry, motor or sensory?

A

sensory

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12
Q

Dermatomes often overlap so that injury to an individual dorsal root does not lead to ???

A

complete loss of sensation in the relevant skin region

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13
Q

TRUE or FALSE: the overlap of dermatomes is less extensive for touch pressure and vibration than for pain and temperature.

A

FALSE: more extensive for touch and pressure

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14
Q

Why does testing for pain sensation provide a more accurate assessment of a segmental nerve injury than testing for responses to touch, pressure or vibration?

A

because the overlap of dermatomes is more extensive for touch and pressure

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15
Q

If 1 dorsal root is cut, the corresponding dermatome on that side of the body does not lose all sensation. WHY?

A

The residual somatic sensation exists perhaps because the adjacent dorsal roots innervate overlapping areas

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16
Q

How many dorsal roots must be cut to lose all sensation in one dermatome?

A

3 dorsal roots

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17
Q

The dura mater surrounding the spinal cord consists of only a single layer. This is the ??? layer

A

meningeal layer. It has no periosteal layer, only the brain does

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18
Q

The epidural space is a space between the meningeal dura and the vertebrae created by the lack of a ??? - it is filled with fat and vessels

A

The lack of a periosteal dural layer creates a ‘space’ between the meningeal dura and the vertebrae.

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19
Q

The spinal ??? provides an avenue to inject anaesthesia into this area to anaesthetise the nerve roots,i.e. epidural anaesthesia

A

epidural space

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20
Q

??? is one of the subarachnoid cisterns

A

lumber cistern

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21
Q

What is is an enlarged region of the subarachnoid space that sits below the conus medullaris and contains the floating cauda equina?

A

the lumber cistern

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22
Q

The lumber cistern and epidural space are between different layers. The epidural space runs along the full length of the cord and sits between the dura mater and the ???

A

vertebrae.

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23
Q

Why is the lumber cistern not found at higher levels of the spinal cord?

A

because it sits below the conus medullaris between the pia mater and arachnoid mater in subarachnoid space

24
Q

The lumber cistern is present below the conus medullaris which corresponds to the vertebral levels ???

A

L2/3

25
Q

lumber cistern can be used as a diagnostic test for ??? without risk of damaging spinal tissue because ???

A

meningitis
because no spinal cord is present at this level, only cauda equina floating in the CSF

26
Q

lumber cistern can be used for imaging i.e a myelogram which is ??? This allows visualisation of cord integrity and identification of injury, cysts, impinging discs or other structural anomalies.

A

is an X-ray that is taken of the spine after a dye has been injected into the CSF which would then travel around the subarachnoid space around the cord.

27
Q

Anesthesia can be injected into this space.

A

lumber cistern

28
Q

The spinal cord is anchored to the ??? bone by meningeal extensions called the Film Terminale

A

coccyx

29
Q

the filum terminale is made of two parts. part 1 is the ??? and is an extension of pia mater from the bottom of the cord that attached to a piece of dura mater called the filum terminale externum.

A

filum terminale interum

30
Q

The filum terminale externum OR interum (?) is made up of dura mater and attached to the coccyx bone

A

externum

31
Q

which type of matter is primarily made up of axons? white or grey?

A

white

31
Q

the dorsal or ventral horn of grey matter consists of cell bodies that process sensory information

A

dorsal horn of grey matter

32
Q

which type of matter is primarily made up of cell bodies of interneurons and some efferent neurons, white or grey?

A

Grey matter

32
Q

The ventral horn of grey matter contains cell bodies that contain motor or sensory information?

A

motor information

33
Q

Extending from the dorsal horn is the ??? which carries ??? information from the periphery into the spinal cord.

A

dorsal root
carries sensory info

33
Q

at which spinal levels does grey matter also contain a lateral hornm holding pre-ganglionic sympathetic cell bodies?

A

At the spinal levels of T1-L2

34
Q

Extending from the ventral horn is the ??? which carries ??? information to muscles and glands

A

ventral root, carrying motor information

35
Q

what combines to make the psinal nerve, protruding from the grey matter?

A

dorsal and ventral roots of the dorsal and ventral horns of grey matter

36
Q

Motor neurons in the ventral horn are organised in a ???

A

somatotopic organisation

37
Q

Somatotopic organisation:
- Motor neurons controlling more proximal/axial musculature are located more ??? in the ventral horn

  • Motor neurons controlling more distal musculature are located more ??? in the ventral horn
A

medially

laterally

38
Q

The white matter is divided into zones called Funiculi & ???

A

Fasciculi

39
Q

Dorsal or Posterior Funiculus (Dorsal columns) has two smaller subdivisions, the ??? and Cuneate fasciculus

A

Gracile

40
Q

the Gracile or Cuneate fasciculus (?) carries sensory information regarding lower limbs and is present at EVERY level of the cord

A

Gracile fasciculus

41
Q

Which fasciculus, gracile or cuneate, carries sensory information regarding upper limbs and is present ONLY at cervical and upper thoracic levels.

A

cuneate fasciculus

42
Q

Apart from the gracile and cuneate fasciculi, what other white matter areas are there?

A

Lateral Funiculus (Lateral columns)
Ventral or Anterior Funiculus (Ventral columns)

43
Q

TRUE or FALSE: The size of funiculi change with the level of the cord

A

TRUE. Cervical cord has large funiculi which get progressively smaller as you descend the cord.

44
Q

Why does the cervical region of the spinal cord have the largest amount of white matter?

A

Because the funiculi carry axons that travel up the cord = everything entering at sacral and lumber levels has to pass through cervical level to reach the brain. Likewise everything traveling down to the lumber/sacral levels has to travel through the cervical level to reach these lower levels.

45
Q

??? funiculus carries both motor and sensory tracts:
- Motor tracts: corticospinal and rubrospinal tracts
- Sensory tracts: spinothalamic & spinocerebellar tracts

A

Lateral funiculus

46
Q

??? funiculus carries both motor and sensory tracts:
- Motor: Anterior corticospinal, reticulospinal, vestibulospinal and tectospinal tracts
- Sensory tract: Spinothalamic tract

A

Ventral (anterior)

47
Q

These are characteristics for which part of spinal cord?
- Presence of ??? enlargement
- Large amount of white matter
- Separation of dorsal funiculus into gracile and cuneate fascuculi

A

Cervical

48
Q

These are characteristics for which part of spinal cord?
- Small amount of grey matter
- Upper shows separation of dorsal funiculus into gracile + cuneate. Mid-lower shows gracile only.
- Presence of lateral horn (containing pre-ganglionic sympathetic neurons)

A

Thoracic

49
Q

These are characteristics for which part of spinal cord?
- Large dorsal and ventral horns
- No separation of the dorsal column, only gracile fasciculus is present at this level.

A

Lumbar

50
Q

These are characteristics for which part of spinal cord?
- No separation of dorsal funiculus
- Little white matter
- Contains pre-ganglionic parasympathetic neurons

A

Sacral

51
Q

Blood supply to the spinal cord is largely from how many arteries?

A

3 arteries

52
Q

1 x anterior spinal artery supplies the anterior ??? of the cord (including the ventral horns, ventral and lateral funiculus)
2 x posterior spinal arteries which supply the posterior ??? of the cord (including the dorsal horn and dorsal funiculus)

A

2/3

1/3

Neurology (9 decks)

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