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Each vertebra (pl.: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal segment and the particular species.
In humans, cervical vertebrae are the smallest of the true vertebrae and can be readily distinguished from those of the thoracic or lumbar regions by the presence of a foramen (hole) in each transverse process, through which the vertebral artery, vertebral veins, and inferior cervical ganglion pass. The remainder of this article focuses upon ...
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.
Anatomically, the human neck is divided into four compartments: vertebral, visceral, and two vascular compartments. [1] Within these compartments, the neck houses the cervical vertebrae, the cervical portion of the spinal cord, upper parts of the respiratory and digestive tracts, endocrine glands, nerves, arteries and veins. The muscles ...
The spinal nerves arise from the spinal column. The top section of the spine is the cervical section, which contains nerves that innervate muscles of the head, neck and thoracic cavity, as well as transmit sensory information to the CNS. The cervical spine section contains seven vertebrae, C-1 through C-7, and eight nerve pairs, C-1 through C-8.
The anterior scalene muscle (Latin: scalenus anterior), lies deeply at the side of the neck, behind the sternocleidomastoid muscle.It arises from the anterior tubercles of the transverse processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebrae, and descending, almost vertically, is inserted by a narrow, flat tendon into the scalene tubercle on the inner border of the first rib, and ...
The inferior oblique portion, the smallest part of the muscle, arises from the front of the bodies of the first two or three thoracic vertebrae; and, ascending obliquely in a lateral direction, is inserted into the anterior tubercles of the transverse processes of the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae.
If vertebrae of the neck are involved it is labelled cervical spondylosis. Lower back spondylosis is labeled lumbar spondylosis. The term is from Ancient Greek σπόνδυλος spóndylos, "a vertebra", in plural "vertebrae – the backbone". "osis' is Latin/English for "a process or condition".