Cervical Anatomy and Pathology - Normal Lower Cervical Spine

Normal Lower Cervical Spine

Mid–sagittal section through a normal lower cervical spine from a young adult. The spine had been frozen in slight flexion before removal. The disc space is narrower anteriorly, reflecting the kyphotic position of the segment. Widened interspinous process distance stretches the ligamentum flavum. The spinal cord has moved anteriorly in the wide spinal canal and is in contact with the anterior vertebral wall. Although this section is perfectly aligned in the midline, the posterior longitudinal ligament is not well distinguished. The outermost annulus of the disc is in continuity with the periosteum that covers the vertebral body like a wallpaper. In this midline section no veins are seen anterior to the dura, between the dura and the ligamentum flavum there are engorged veins nested in the epidural fat which is sparse and only found in the midline.