Vertebral Column Anatomy Flashcards
describe cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae
cervical: all species have 7, no spinous process C1 C2, gradually increases in height C3-C7; supply the nerves to the neck and forelimbs
thoracic: 13 in dogs and cattle, 17 in horses, no transverse or alar foramen, may have a lateral vertebral foramen, long spinous processes that change direction based on position, contain a costal fovea for articulation with the ribs, contain mamillary processes, supply the nerves to the thoracic region and trunk
lumbar: 6 in cattle and horses, 7 in dogs; no transverse or alar foramen, bovines may have lateral vertebral foramen, have a blunt spinous process, have a very prominent transverse process, have mamillary processes that are fused with dorsal part of cranial articular processes, no costal fovea, supply nerves to hindlimb and lower trunk
sacral: 3 in dogs, typically 5 fused into a single structure in cattle and horse, no transverse or alar or vertebral foramen, in dog and cows the spinous processes fuse to form the median sacral crest, unfused in the horse, transverse process fused with other processes, mamillary processes like lumbar, no costal fovea, supply nerves to pelvic region
coccygeal: number depends on species, no transverse, alar, or lateral vertebral foramen, also no vertebral intervertebral foramen, but do contain transverse and spinous and mamillary processes, no costal fovea, supply nerves to the tail
differentiate between C1, C2, C3-5, C6, and C7
C1/Atlas: no spinous process, no transverse process; horses have both alar and transverse foramen in the wing, bovines only have the alar foramen, and dogs only have transverse foramen and an alar notch
C2/Axis: all species have transverse foramen
C3-C6: all have transverse foramen but no lateral vertebral foramen, C3 is the beginning of spinous processes; transverse process divided into cranial (ventral tubercle) and caudal (dorsal tubercle); no mamillary processes or costal fovea
C7: undivided transverse process, has a caudal costal fovea
identify lateral vertebral foramen, alar foramen, transverse foramen, intervertebral foramen, and the vertebral canal. list the structures that go through these foramina
lateral vertebral foramen: present in C1 and C2; originally the caudal vertebral notch but can sometimes be replaced by this foramen in thoracic vertebrae; contains vertebral artery, vein, and first cervical nerve
alar foramen: hole in the wing of the atlas in equine and bovine; contains vertebral artery and vein
transverse foramen: hole in the transverse process of C1-C6 in equine, C2-C6 in bovine and canine, absent in C7, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae; contains vertebral artery, vein, and vertebral nerve (sympathetic nerve fiber)
intervertebral foramen: formed by the vertebral notches of two adjacent vertebrae, absent in sacral and coccygeal vertebrae; contains spinal nerves including dorsal and ventral roots, dorsal root ganglion, and blood vessels including segmental spinal arteries and veins
vertebral canal/foramen: present in all vertebral segments except coccygeal, houses the spinal cord
identify spinous process, transverse process, cranial and caudal articular process, and mamillary process
spinous process: absent C1 C2, increase in height C3-C6; longer in thoracic and become shorter caudally, single and blunt in lumbar, in sacral of dog and bovine, the processes fuse to form median sacral crest, but don’t fuse in horse, present in coccygeal
transverse process: present C3-C6 but divided into cranial and caudal (C7 undivided), has a costal fovea in thoracic for articulation with ribs and is short, blunt, and irregular, present in lumbar, present in sacral but fused with the other processes, present in coccygeal
articular processes: C3-C6 cranial is dorsomedial and caudal is ventrolaterally directed, in thoracic the cranial faces dorsally and caudal faces ventrally, lumbar is same as cervical, present in sacral and coccygeal
mamillary processes: absent in cervical, present in thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal
identify lamina, vertebral body, costal fovea, pedicle, and arch
costal fovea: absent in cervical except C7 has a caudal costal fovea for articulation with head of first rib, in thoracic present on caudal aspect of body for articulation with ribs, absent in lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal
vertebral body: big round structure ventral to vertebral foramen
pedicles: encase spinal cord on either side, bone
lamina: attached to pedicles, completes circle of protection around spinal cord; at dorsal apex form an arch as they come together in the center
what is located between the vertebral bodies of C2-S1 and all coccygeal vertebrae? what are its parts? (3) describe bloody supply
an intervertebral disc; composed of a central nucleus pulposus, and transition zone, and then an annulus fibrosus;
outer AF has limited blood supply; inner AF and TZ have no direct blood supply, the IVD contains endplates that supply essential nutrients
what are the 5 ligaments of the vertebral column and their relationship to the IVD? (present along entire length of vertebral column)
- supraspinous ligament: runs continuously on top of the spinous processes
- interspinous ligament: runs between each spinous process
- interarcuate ligament: run between the arches of adjacent vertebrae
- dorsal longitudinal ligament: runs along the inside bottom of the vertebral foramen
- ventral longitudinal ligament: runs along the outside ventral/bottom of the vertebral body
what is one extra vertebral column ligament present only in the thoracic region, where is it located, and what is its purpose?
intercapital ligament; this ligament is part of the interarticular ligament of the head of the rib; it runs from the head of one rib, over the dorsal part of the IVD but under the dorsal longitudinal ligament, to the head of the opposite rib; its purpose is to provide additional protection against IVD disease
list and describe the 3 meninges
- dura mater: dense connective tissue; closely lines the inner aspect of the skull; in the vertebral canal, there is a space between the periosteum covering the vertebrae and the dura called the epidural space (where you give an epidural)
- arachnoid: cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space pushes this layer against the dura mater with only the potential subdural space in between the two; subarachnoid space expands in cerebromedullary cistern and lumbosacral region so collect CSF in one of these 2 spaces
- pia mater: fused with brain and spinal cord; thinner than dura but thicker than arachnoid
list and describe the 3 atlantoaxial ligaments
- apical ligament of dens axis: runs from dens to dens of the axis
- alar ligaments: attach bilaterally to the dens and insert on the base of the skull
- transverse ligament: stretches across the atlas posterior to the dens to keep C1 from displacing over C2
