The thoracic spine has a primary dorsal convexity (Fig. 1) associated with intrauterine life – a phylogenetic kyphosis – whereas the cervical and lumbar spine have a compensatory lordosis. The 12 thoracic vertebrae are intermediate in size between those in the cervical and lumbar regions. They are composed of a vertebral body – a cylindrical ventral mass of bone – continuing posteriorly into a ...

Introduction The thoracic cage is made up of twelve vertebrae, sternum and twelve pairs of ribs. The ribs articulate with the vertebrae posteriorly and with the sternum through the corresponding costal cartilages anteriorly. The spaces between the adjacent ribs are called intercostal spaces. There are 11 intercostal spaces on each side. The intercostal spaces are filled with three layers of int...

We have measured the increase in height and width of the vertebral bodies and expressed them as percentages of the total growth in children aged 10 to 17 years. The first group, 10 boys and 10 girls, each had a single thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis while the second group, 10 girls, each had a single lumbar adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. No significant differences were found between ...

Anatomy of the brachial plexus Roots The brachial plexus is most commonly formed by five roots originating from the ventral divisions of spinal nerves C5 through T1. The roots of the plexus are located in the cervical paravertebral space, between the anterior and middle scalene muscles. Besides understanding its origins, it is also important to understand the plexus in terms of the relative sur...

Objective The incidence of thoracolumbar fractures is increasing in modern society concomitantly with population aging. role percutaneous vertebroplasty as a possible treatment option for remains unclear. Methods In this study, we retrospectively reviewed clinical and radiological factors, including sex, age, bone mineral density, mechanisms injury, fracture levels, the Magerl classification 10...

Radiologists often examine X-rays of cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae for determining the presence of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. For individual vertebra assessment, the boundary increasingly digresses from the general rectangular shape as the vertebra becomes less normal in appearance. For an abnormal vertebra, bony growths ('osteophytes') may appear at the vertebral comers, result...

From our experience in 16 patients with persistent chylothorax from fistulas of the thoracic duct or its tributaries, we conclude that no standard treatment is uniformly successful and multimodality therapy should be considered. In selected patients, an anastomosis between ectatic lymphatics or hyperplastic lymph nodes and an adjacent vein may be attempted. Chylothorax from "leakage" of the tho...

Congenital agenesis of lumbar vertebrae was diagnosed in a day-old female lamb based on radiology and clinical examinations. There was no neurological deficit in hindlimb and forelimb associated with standing disability. Radiography of the abdominal region revealed absence of lumbar vertebrae. Necropsy confirmed clinical and radiographic results. No other anomaly or agenesis was seen macroscopi...

The vertebral column of the Florida manatee presents an unusual suite of morphological traits. Key among these are a small precaudal count, elongate thoracic vertebrae, extremely short neural spines, lack of a sacral series, high lumbar variability, and the presence of six instead of seven cervical vertebrae. This study documents vertebral morphology, size, and lumbar variation in 71 skeletons ...