Spine

Intrasegmental Ligament is made up of:

-Supraspinous -Intraspinous -Ligmentum Flavum -Intertrasnverse Ligament

The Neural Arch is made up of the:

-pedicle -lamina -pars interarticularis -transverse process -spinous process -articular processes

How many vertebrae and spinal cord segments are in the thoracic region?

12 vertebrae; 12 spinal cord segments

The spinal cord is segmented just like the vertebral column, but in contrast to the vertebrae there are only _______ cord segments.

31 there are 33 vertebral segments

How many vertebrae and spinal cord segments are in the lumbar region?

5 vertebrae; 5 spinal cord segments

How many vertebrae and spinal cord segments are in the sacral region?

5 vertebrae; 5 spinal cord segments

Which is a source of axons found in the dorsal primary ramus of the 4th thoracic spinal nerve?

Afferent neurons arising from the skin of the trapezius muscle

The _________ Longitudinal Ligament becomes stretched in extension. Therefore, prevents excessive extension of the spine

Anterior

-Relatively broad band, thickest in its middle zone -Traverses anterior surface of vertebra from sacrum to C2

Anterior Longitudinal Ligament ALL

In the lumbar spine, the L4 nerve root sleeve exits:

Below the pedicle of L4 and at the top of the intervertebral foramen

-anterior portion designed primarily for weight-bearing -consists of a cortical shell surrounding cancelous (trabecular) bone

Body of the vertebra

A football player suffers a herniated intervertebral disc in his neck. The disc compresses the spinal nerve exiting through the intervertebral foramen between the 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae. Which spinal nerve is affected?

C6 always go with the one below

_________ has high ratio to increase mobility (2:5)

Cervical

-zygopophyseal is horizontal but a little more flat -superior facet faces superior and medial // inferior facet faces anterior and lateral -spinous processes are short and bi-fid (meaning they have two prongs on the end) -vertebral canal is very large and triangular shape -transverse processes have vertebral foramen for passage of vertebral artery

Cervical Spine vertebra

Which muscle is innervated by the posterior primary rami? -Latissimus Dorsi -Levator Scapula -Erector Spinae -Rhomboid Major -Trapezius

Erector Spinae of all of the answer choices, erector spinae is the only true back muscle listed

limited by: -"bony block" -by the zygopophyseal joint capsules -anterior longitudinal ligament -anterior fibers of anulus -anterior trunk muscles

Extension of Spine

limited by: -supraspinous and infraspinous ligaments -zygopophyseal joint capsuls -ligimentum flavum -posterior longitudinal ligment -posterior fibers of anulus -posterior trunk muscles

Flexion of spine

Articulation in between two vertebral bodies, contains an intervertebral disc

Interbody Joint

-Between the spinous processes -connects the spinous processes of adjacent vertebrae -can be damaged in extreme flexion

Interspinous Ligament

-Ligaments between adjacent transverse processes -Difficult to see in the lumbar region -Resist lateral flexion

Intertransverse Ligament

While moving into a new apartment a student lifting a heavy box of books experiences a sharp pain in his back, radiating down the anterior thigh and medial side of his leg. After several days of misery, he finally goes for treatment and is told that he has a herniated intervertebral disk at the L 4 level which is compressing a spinal nerve where it exits the vertebral column. The point of compression is the:

Intervertebral foramen A "slipped disc" is the herniation of the nucleus pulposis through the annulus fibrosis. This happens in the posterolateral direction.

Attaches to or binds adjacent vertebrae

Intrasegmental Ligament

It is decided to image the spinal cord and spinal nerve rootlets by doing a myelogram (injection of a radio-opaque dye into the subarachnoid space followed by a radiograph). In order to inject the dye without injury to the spinal cord, the injection is usually done below what vertebral level?

L4 In an adult, the spinal cord usually ends at the inferior border of L1 or the superior border of L2. Therefore, it is relatively safe to insert a needle above or below L4.

A man has a herniated intervertebral disk between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae. If this disk compresses the spinal nerve in the intervertebral foramen immediately posterior to this disk, which spinal nerve would be affected?

L5 always go with the one below

In order to expose the spinal cord from the posterior side, it is necessary to remove the:

Laminae, spinous processes, and ligamenta flavum

-Stringy structures that run vertically along the vertebrae -elastic ligament that connects lamina of one vertebra to the lamina of another -covers the articular capsule for the joint, so offers some reinforcement

Ligamentum Flavum

Abnormal increase in lumbar curvature due to anterior sway of the pelvis is called

Lordosis (women develop temporary lordosis during pregnancy to compensate for the change in their normal line of gravity) - thats pretty freaking cool

__________ has low ratio to decrease mobility (1:3)

Lumbar

-zygopophyseal are almost vertical as if you were putting your palms together -spinous processes are broad and thick "as if it were a key" -transverse processes are stout and short for muscle attachment massive body, stout spinous processes, smaller triangular vertebral foramen

Lumbar Spine vertebra

The ______ ______ is everything that is posterior to the vertebra body

Neural Arch

-Consists of collagen fibers embedded in mucoprotein -Very high H2O content - up to 80%

Nucleus Pulposis

part of lamina that resides between a superior and inferior articular facet

Pars interarticularis (part that is between articular portions)

-Behind body of vertebra but in front of the spinal cord, lies within spinal canal -Attached from sacrum to C2 -Forms ventral surface of vertebral foramen

Posterior Longitudinal Ligament PLL

retain original posterior convexity from fetal life, they are the thoracic and sacral curves

Primary Curves

What innervates the intervertebral disc?

Recurrent Meningeal Branch of the spinal nerve (or sinuvertebral nerve) also innervates the anterior/posterior longitudinal ligaments

develop during infancy in reversal of original curves, they are the cervical and lumbar curves

Secondary Curves

A neuron with a cell body in the dorsal root ganglia could convey what type of fibers?

Sensory from the skin overlying the trapezius The dorsal root ganglia is the location of the cell bodies of the somatic sensory neurons. Cells from the dorsal root ganglion transmit somatic sensation from the skin to the CNS.

designed for muscle attachment and to increase lever arm, also provides a "bony block" for motion

Spinous process

Cord of ligamentous material that connects tips of spinous processes from L3 to C7

Supraspinous Ligament

-zygopophyseal is more in the frontal plane (think if you were holding up "stop" with your hand) -superior facet faces posterior, superior, and lateral // inferior facet faces inferior anterior and medial -has demi facets for articulation with the ribs -facet for articulation with the tubercle of rib -spinous processes are long and slope inferiorly -transverse processes have large processes with facets for rib articulation

Thoracic Spine vertebra

lateral projections that serve for muscle attachments and to increase lever arm

Transverse process

A 45 year old man complains of weakness in the upper limb and that he feels clumsy. Tests revealed that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease), a disease which attacks the neurons of the voluntary motor system. Where would one expect to see atrophic of degenerated nerve cell bodies?

Ventral horn of the spinal cord

-Synovial joints between the facets -Vary by region -Help guide and dictate what motion will be available

Zygopophyseal Joints

The intervertebral disc:

adds about 1/4 of the entire length to the vertebral column

Superficial fibers along the anterior & posterior aspects of the _______ blend with fibers of the anterior & posterior longitudinal ligaments respectively

annulus

The nucleus pulposis is surrounded by a more stiff ring, called the ________ _______.

annulus fibrosis

low fluid and high collagen content

annulus fibrosis

Extension stretches disc ________ and compresses disc __________

anteriorly; posteriorly

Why do Zygopophyseal joints get larger in from cervical to lumbar vertebra?

because more weight from HAT is added as we go lower in body

Typical adult disc (annulus & nucleus) is thought to be void of its own dedicated blood supply. Instead possibly gets its nutrients from

capillary bed associated with cartilaginous plate

The number of vertebrae and number of spinal cord segments are the same in each region except the:

cervical there are 8 cervical spinal cord segments but only 7 cervical vertebrea

Disc size increases through spine with the smallest in the _________ (discs are discontinuous) and the largest in the ________ (discs are continuous)

cervical; lumbar

The part of the spinal nerve that supplies the true back muscles and skin overlying them is the

dorsal primary ramus the dorsal primary ramus provides sensory innervation to the skin of the back and motor innervation to the true back muscles

The spinal nerve exits at the

intervertebral foramen

The structure of the intervertebral disc is similar to a

jelly filled doughnut :)

-vertical plate that forms the roof of the neural arch -this makes a hole in the neural arch for the spinal cord to pass through -transmits force to the vertebral body

lamina

If one does a laminectomy (removing the laminae of two adjacent vertebrae) to expose the spinal cord, which ligament must be removed?

ligamentum flavum Ligamentum flavum is an elastic ligament that joins the laminae of adjacent vertebrae. Therefore, to remove the laminae the ligamentum flavum must be removed also

Above C7, the Supraspinous Ligament is replaced by the _________ ________.

ligamentum nuchae

Annulus fibers near the center tend to blend with the fibers of the

nucleus pulposis

Intervertebral disc has gelatinous material in center called the _______ _______.

nucleus pulposis

high fluid and proteoglycan content

nucleus pulposis

-connection between the posterior elements and the Body -anterior to articular facets -transmits forces

pedicle

Superior articular process + inferior articular process =

pillar

Flexion stretches disc _________ compresses disc __________

posteriorly; anteriorly

The first function of the intervertebral disc

separates vertebra (which increases motion) maintains size of vertebral foramen, makes a hole which is passage of a spinal nerve

To insert a needle into the subarachnoid space, the needle must pass through three ligaments:

supraspinous, interspinous, and ligamenta flava

A university student comes to the ER with a high fever, lethargy, and a stiff neck. Meningitis is suspected and a lumbar puncture is ordered. What landmark could be used to insert the spinal needle between the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebral spines?

the iliac crest

Kyphosis is the curvature of which region of the spine?

thoracic Kyphosis is an abnormal increase in the thoracic curvature of the vertebral column.

The second function of the intervertebral disc

transmit load of HAT

Motor neurons have their cell bodies in the

ventral horn of the spinal cord

Motion depends on ratio between disc thickness and __________ ________ __________.

vertebral body height