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The upper surfaces of the laminae are rough to give attachment to the ligamenta flava. These ligaments connect the laminae of adjacent vertebra along the length of the spine from the level of the second cervical vertebra. Above and below the pedicles are shallow depressions called vertebral notches (superior and inferior).
The number of vertebrae in a region can vary but overall the number remains the same. In a human spinal column, there are normally 33 vertebrae. [3] The upper 24 pre-sacral vertebrae are articulating and separated from each other by intervertebral discs, and the lower nine are fused in adults, five in the sacrum and four in the coccyx, or tailbone.
The pedicles are very strong, directed backward from the upper part of the vertebral body; consequently, the inferior vertebral notches are of considerable depth. [1] The pedicles change in morphology from the upper lumbar to the lower lumbar. They increase in sagittal width from 9 mm to up to 18 mm at L5. They increase in angulation in the ...
The pedicles are directed laterally and backward, and attach to the body midway between its upper and lower borders, so that the superior vertebral notch is as deep as the inferior, but it is, at the same time, narrower. The laminae are narrow and thinner above than below; the vertebral foramen is large and of a triangular form.
Articular processes spring from the junctions of the pedicles and laminæ, and there are two right and left, and two superior and inferior. These stick out of an end of a vertebra to lock with a zygapophysis on the next vertebra, to make the backbone more stable.
The laminae are broad, thick, and imbricated – that is to say, they overlap those of subjacent vertebrae like tiles on a roof and connect with the pedicles to surround and protect the spinal cord. The intervertebral foramen is small, and circular, with two at each intervertebral level, one for the right and one for the left exiting nerve roots.
The vertebral canal is enclosed anteriorly by the vertebral bodies, intervertebral discs, and the posterior longitudinal ligament; it is enclosed posteriorly by the vertebral laminae and the ligamenta flava; laterally, it is incompletely enclosed by the pedicles with the interval between two adjacent pedicles on either side creating an intervertebral foramen (allowing the passage of the spinal ...
The sacrum (pl.: sacra or sacrums [1]), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1–S5) between ages 18 and 30. [2] The sacrum situates at the upper, back part of the pelvic cavity, between the two wings of the pelvis. It forms joints with four other bones.