REY GWEN

The Spine

Not counting the sacrum (your sacrum is attached to your pelvis and will be covered in a later section), the spinal column is made of 24 vertebrae of 3 types. There are 7 cervical, 12 thoratic, + 5 lumbar vertebrae.



Your vertebrae's size goes from small to large from top to bottom. You have 7 identifiable vertebrae: C1 (atlas, 1st cervical), C2 (axis, 2nd cervical), C7, T1, T10, T11, T12, and L5.



The typical vertebral landmarks you need to know are the body, vertebral foramen, vertebral arch (or neutral arch), laminae, pedicles, spinous process, transverse processes, superior + inferior articular facets, and the intervertebral foramen.

Cervical Vertebrae

  • ★ Transverse processes are short
  • ★ Spinous processes are long
  • ★ Bodies are small + thin
  • ★ Superior and inferior articular facets are flat with short processes
  • ★ 3 cervical vertebrae have a unique morphology! The C1 (atlas), C2 (axis), and C7
  • ★ The spinous process is a bifid spinous process (it looks like a heart! ♡)
  • ★ Cervical foramena/transverse foramen are present (unique to cervical vertebrae) !

    • Thoracic Vertebrae

  • ★ Upper transverse processes are longer and more pronounced
  • ★ Spinous processes are longer + thinner
  • ★ Bodies are potentially flatter on the left side
  • ★ Superior and inferior articular facets are flat and oriented vertically
  • ★ 4 thoracic vertebrae have a unique morphology! T1, T10, T11, and T12
  • ★ Transverse processes are usually large
  • ★ Has facet joints where ribs attach
  • ★ Thoracic vertebrae look like giraffes :-)

    • Lumbar Vertebrae

  • ★ Upper transverse processes are smaller and thinner than thoracic vertebrae but larger than cervical
  • ★ Spinous processes are short and deep
  • ★ Bodies are large and wide
  • ★ Superior articular facets are concave and inferior articular facets are convex
  • ★ Has mammillary process, which is another process on the bone or a small, rounded projection only found on the lumbar vertebrae ( picture below :-) )
  • ★ No costal facets
  • ★ Lumbar vertebrae look like moose :-)

    • Special Vertebrae !

    Atlas (C1) + Axis (C2)

  • ★ Atlas (C1) is holding your "globe" ( your skull ! )
  • ★ C1 has no body
  • ★ C1 has odontoid fossa
  • ★ Axis (C2) has an odontoid peg that allows atlas to rotate on it
  • ★ Both have a bifed spinous process and cervical foramena ( unique features of cervical vertebrae ! ).

    • T10, T11, and T12

  • ★ All have one whole costal facet, T10's at the top, T11's detached from the top, and T12's is fully detached.


    • Actually... take me home !