Vertebral Column Anatomy Course Objectives for Medicine I Students

Vertebral Column Learning Objectives [RB]

1. IDENTIFIES:

(i) Articulated vertebral column:

curvatures: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral intervertebral foramina

(ii) typical cervical vertebra:

body, vertebral foramen, spine, pedicles, laminae, superior and inferior articular processes and their facets, foramina transversaria, anterior and posterior tubercle on the transverse process, costotransverse bar.

atlas: anterior arch, posterior arch, lateral mass, anterior and posterior tubercles, facet for the dens of the axis, groove for the vertebral artery on the posterior arch, facets for occipital condyles.

axis: dens, superior and inferior articular processes and facets, spinous process, body, formaina transversaria.

(iii) typical thoracic vertebra:

body, pedicle, laimnae, transverse processes, spinous process, costal facets, vertebral canal, superior and inferior articular processes, superior and inferior vertebral notches.

(iv) lumbar vertebra:

body, pedicles, laminae, spinous process, superior and inferior articular processes, superior and inferior articular facets, mamillary processes, transverse processes.

(v) sacrum:

promontory, ala, facet for the coccyx, sacral canal, superior articular processes, sacral crests: median, intermediate and lateral, sacral coruna, sacral hiatus, sacral foramina: pelvic and dorsal.

(vi) coccyx:

coccygeal coruna, fused rudimentary vertebrae and their transverse processes.

(vii) intervertebral discs:

anulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus, anterior and posterior longitudinal ligaments.

(viii) contents of vertebral canal:

spinal meninges: dura, arachnoid and pia mater, spinal cord, ventral and dorsal nerve roots, cauda equina, filum terminale, internal vertebral venous plexuses.

(ix) radiological features of vertebral:

column lumbar vertebral bodies, intervertebral discs, transverse processes, laminae, pedicles, spinous processes, inferior and superior articular processes, pelvic sacral foramina, sacroiliac joints, zygopophyseal joints, atlanto-occipital and atlanto-axial joints.

2. COMPARES and CONTRASTS: typical:

cervical (C3-C6), thoracic (T2-T9) and lumbar (L2-L4) vertebrae.

3. CORRELATES:

the main features of the sacrum and coccyx with the component parts of separate vertebrae.

4. CLASSIFIES:

the joints of the vertebral bodies, articular processes, laminae, spines.

5. DISCUSSES:

(i) articulated vertebral column: normal and abnormal curvatures, line of weight transmission, stability and movements.

(ii) ligaments of the vertebral column, especially the ligamentum nuchae and ligamentum flavum.

(iii) significance of the valveless internal vertebral venous plexuses.

(iv) functions of intervertebral disc

6. DEMONSTRATES: (in the living subject):

(i) spines of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae

(ii) the approximate vertebral levels of: spine of the scapula, inferior angle of the scapula, highest point of the iliac crest, posterior superior iliac spines, termination of the spinal cord in the adult and the newborn.

(iii) the appropriate site for a lumbar puncture

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