The Spinal Cord Flashcards
Where does the spinal cord start and end?
From the medulla oblongata to L1/L2.
When are the spinal cord and vertebral canal the same length?
In 12wk old foetuses.
What is the cauda equina?
A bundle of nerve roots at the end of the spinal cord, which exit out of the intervertebral foramen.
What is the conus medullaris?
The conical inferior end of the spinal cord.
What is the filum terminale?
The continuation of pia mater.
What is the lumbar cistern?
A dilated Dural sac that ends at S2.
Attached to the tip of the coccyx by the filum terminale externa.
What is a Dural sac?
The membranous sheath of dura mater that surrounds the spinal cord and cauda equina.
What are key features of the spinal cord in histology?
Nissl bodies - RER in neurons.
Grey matter - H-shaped.
White matter - axons.
Where is sympathetic outflow?
T1-L2 (thoracolumbar).
Cell bodies are located at the lateral horn of the grey matter.
Where is parasympathetic outflow?
From the brain.
From pelvic splanchnic nerves (S2-S4).
What is ischemia?
A deficiency of blood supply to the spinal cord, due to damage of spinal and segmental medullary artery branches.
What occurs as a result of ischemia?
Muscle weakness and paralysis.
Venous drainage - internal vertebral venous plexuses drain to the cerebral Dural venous sinuses.
Infection and cancer can spread to the CNS from other parts of the body.
What causes spinal cord injury?
Blunt trauma.
Penetrating injuries.
Cord compression (hernias, bone metastasis - cancer or stenosis of the vertebral canal).
What occurs as a result of spinal cord injury?
Complete or partial loss of motor function and sensation.
Autonomic function is disrupted.
What is lumbar puncture?
L3-L4 in adults; L4-L5 in children.
Injection for epidural anaesthesia.
Sampling CSF from the subarachnoid space.
