Vertebral Column

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Vertebral Column

• The vertebral column most often is made up of 33
  elements in adult humans, of which 24 are
  movable.
• Variation occurs in over 10 of all individuals
  in a skeletal population.
• The most common deviation from the usual pattern
  is an extra thoracic or lumbar vertebra with an
  associated shift, as in thirteen thoracic and
  four lumbar vertebrae.
• Ones we are covering today
• 7 cervical
• 12 thoracic
• 5 lumbar

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• 3 primary ossification centers
• Centrum
• Two halves of vertebral arch
• 5 secondary ossification centers
• Two epiphyses at tips of transverse processes
• Spinous process
• Superior and inferior surfaces of vertebral body
  (epiphyseal rings)
• Fusion rates vary with developmental completion
  occurring at approximately 25 years of age.

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Cervical Vertebrae (7)
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Thoracic Vertebrae (12)
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Thoracic Vertebrae
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T-1
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T-10
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T-11
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T-12
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Lumbar Vertebrae (5)
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Distinguishing Various Lumbar Vertebrae

• L-1 is the smallest of the series.
• When viewing the posterior surface of a lumbar
  vertebra, imagine a quadrangle connecting the
  centers of four superior and inferior articular
  facets.
• In L-1 and L-2, this outline is a vertically
  elongate rectangle.
• In L-3 and L-4, the outline resembles a square.
• In L-5, the outline is a horizontally elongate
  rectangle.