Vertebral Column Flashcards
Vertebral column
▪️made up of individual vertebrae- not a lot of movement by themselves but as a column can get large movements of back.
▪️regions- cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal
General vertebrae structure
▪️body- weight bearing portion, gets bigger as you go down the column as there is more weight to hold
▪️vertebral foramen- hole in the middle of vertebrae, if all vertebrae are lined up foms vertebrae canal for spinal cord.
▪️transverse process- sticks out laterally from vertebral foramen (muscles and ligament)
▪️pedicle- joins body to transverse process
▪️spinous process- sticks out away from vertebral foramen (muscle and ligament attachments)
▪️lamina- joins transverse process to spinous process
Cervical vertebrae
▪️7
▪️neck region
▪️structure:
-smaller body
-spinous process is bifid (split into 2)
-foramen transversarium (vertebral artery- branch of subclavian artery)
-anterior and posterior tunicle (muscle attachments)
-zygapophysial joint slopes from anterior to posterior (allows flexion and extension of neck)
Thoracic vertebrae
▪️12
▪️thorax region
▪️structure:
-rib attachment (head of rib attached to body- costovertebral joint (demi facet), neck of rib attached to transverse process- costotransverse joint
(costal facet))- spinous process is long and points down
-zygapophysial joint more vertical (limits FandE but still get rotation of thoracic spine- want to protect structures inside)
-
Lumbar vertebrae
▪️5
▪️lower back
▪️structure:
-large body
-spinous process is stout and square shaped
- zygapophysial joint is curved and wrapped around (limits FandE but still get rotation)
Sacral vertebrae
▪️5 ▪️pelvis region ▪️fused together to form sacrum ▪️structure: -anterior and posterior sacral foramina for spinal nerves
Coccygeal vertebrae
▪️3/4
▪️fused together
▪️remnant of tail bone
Intervertebral discs
▪️symphysis joint
▪️between vertebral bodies
▪️outer part of collar- fibrocartilage
▪️annulus fibrosis-inner part of collar (collagen fibres)-resist movement and rotation
▪️nucleus pulposus-( gelatinous)bears the weight and cushions it
Intervertebral foramen
▪️hole formed when vertebrae are stacked on top of each other
▪️at each level a spinal nerve comes out of foramen
Zygapophysial joint
▪️synovial joint
▪️between vertebrae
▪️each vertebrae has a superior articulation and inferior articulation
Atlas
▪️C1 vertebrae ▪️articulates with skull and axis ▪️structure: -no body -facets for occipital condyle- articulate with occipital bone -anterior and posterior arch
Axis
▪️C2
▪️articulates with atlas-shaking head (pivot joint- C1 moving on C2)
▪️structure:
-no body
-dens process (sticks up behind anterior arch of atlas and is supported by a transverse ligament)
Ligaments of vertebral column
▪️spinous processes- supraspinous ligament connecting spinous process
▪️ligamentum nuchae- supraspinous ligaments in the neck (holds head straight)
▪️interspinous ligaments- between spinous processes- stop flexion of spine
▪️ligamentum flavum- between transverse processes- very elastic, normally stretched therefore always acting to keep vertebrae on top of each other
▪️anterior longitudinal ligament- stop overextension- from moving back too much
Surface markings of spinous processes
▪️C2-bottom of skull
▪️C7- bottom of neck if flexed
▪️T1- below C7
▪️T3- in line with spine of scapula
▪️T7- in line with inferior angle of scapula
▪️L4-in line with highest point of iliac spine
▪️S2- sacral dimples
-vertebral bodies is how different sections are marked out. Therefore because spinous process points down in T and L, the sections marked for the level are slightly above the spinous processes.
Embryology of vertebral column
▪️endochondrial ossification-cartilaginous model,invasion by blood vessels, osteoblasts and osteoclasts,degradation of cartilage, formation of bone.
▪️around neural tube get condensation of sclerotome cells (become cartilage)
▪️primary ossification centres surrounding notochord and medial to transverse processes (body and neural arch)
▪️newborn- spinous process is still cartilage
▪️puberty- secondary ossification centres form at tip of transverse processes, and tip of spinous process (elongation). Around rim of vertebral body (increase height of vertebrae- grow in height)
