Synonyms
Cervical spine, cervical vertebrae, cervical vertebral body, cervical body
Anatomy
The cervical spine (cervical spine) is part of the spinal column as a whole, also called the spine. There are 7 cervical vertebrae (Vertebrae cervicales), which connect the head with the trunk. While the lower 5 cervical vertebrae are similar in structure, the first two cervical vertebrae are different in their structure.
The first, ring-shaped cervical vertebral body (atlas) represents the transition from the head to the cervical spine. Here the spinal cord enters the spinal canal as an extension of the brain. Towards the skull there is a paired joint (antlantocipital joint).
The 2nd cervical vertebral body (axis) has as a special feature a front peg (dens axis), which projects upwards into the ring of the atlas. The vertebral bodies of the cervical spine (cervical spine) are joined together in a stable row. The vertebral bodies are connected to the neighboring vertebrae by paired vertebral joints.
Between the vertebral bodies are the intervertebral discs, which are important for the mobility of the spine and buffer axial forces. Numerous ligaments and muscles run between the vertebral bodies, which are important for the movement and stability of the cervical spine. Naturally, the cervical spine has a slight curvature (lordosis) when viewed from the side.
Here, the spine is convexly curved forward. The individual cervical vertebra consists of a vertebral body (Corpus vertebra), a vertebral arch (Arcus vertebra), 4 small vertebral joints (right and left, top and bottom), a spinous process (Processus spinosus), a transverse process and a vertebral hole (Foramen vertebrale) formed by the vertebral arches. Together with the other vertebral holes, the vertebral hole of a single vertebral body forms a bony canal, the spinal canal or spinal cord canal (spinal canal).
The spinal cord runs through the spinal canal, which in an adult ends at about the level of the second lumbar vertebra. Together with the adjacent vertebral bodies (above and below), an exit opening for the spinal cord nerves is formed (Foramen intervertebrale; neuroforamen).
- Transverse process
- Outgoing nerve
- Vertebral body
- Spinous process
- Spinal cord