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·         Scheuermann's disease or kyphosis (juvenile kyphosis or vertebral epiphysitis): is epiphysial osteochondrosis of vertebral bodies commonly in the thoracic vertebrae. It occurs when the front parts of the thoracic vertebrae do not grow as fast as the back parts and thus form a wedge shape, leading to kyphosis. Symptoms include thoracic kyphosis, intermittent back pain, and tight hamstrings.

·         A baby with spina bifida should be delivered by cesarean section because passage of the baby through the narrow birth canal is likely to compress the meningocele and damage the spinal cord.

·         Klippel-Feil syndrome: is a congenital defect manifested as a short, stiff neck resulting from reduction in the number of cervical vertebrae or extensive fusion of the cervical vertebrae, which causes low hairline and limited motion of the neck.

·         Whiplash injury of the neck: is produced by a force that drives the trunk forward while the head lags behind, causing the head (with the upper part of the neck) to hyperextend and the lower part of the neck to hyperflex rapidly, as occurs in rear-end automobile collisions. This injury occurs frequently at the junction of vertebrae C4 and C5; thus, vertebrae C1 to C4 act as the lash, and vertebrae C5 to C7 act as the handle of the whip. It results in neck pain, stiff neck, and headache and can be treated by supporting the head and neck using a cervical collar that is higher in the back than in the front; the collar keeps the cervical vertebral column in a flexed position.

·         A herniated (slipped) disk: is a protrusion of the nucleus pulposus through the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disk into the intervertebral foramen or into the vertebral canal, compressing the spinal nerve root. It commonly occurs posterolaterally where the annulus fibrosus is not reinforced by the posterior longitudinal ligament and frequently affects the lumbar region.

·         FYI: First cervical vertebra (atlas) Supports the skull; thus its name. According to Greek mythology, Atlas supported Earth on his shoulders.

·         Hangman's fracture: is a fracture of the pedicles of the axis (C2), which may occur as a result of judicial hanging or automobile accidents. In this fracture, the cruciform ligament is torn and the spinal cord is crushed, causing death.

·         Sacral hiatus: formed by the failure of the laminae of vertebra S5 to fuse. It is used for the administration of caudal (extradural) anesthesia.

·         Occipital Artery Gives off the descending branch, which divides into the superficial branch that anastomoses with the transverse cervical artery and the deep branch that anastomoses with the deep cervical artery from the costocervical trunk.

·         Transverse cervical Artery Has a superficial branch (supe rficial cervical artery), which divides into an ascending branch that supplies the upper part of the trapezius and adjacent muscles and a descending branch that accompanies the spinal accessory nerve on the deep surface of the trapezius.

Has a deep branch (dorsal scapular or descending scapular artery) that accompanies the dorsal scapular nerve (C5) deep to the levator scapulae and the rhomboids along the medial side of the scapula.

·         Denticulate ligaments are lateral extensions of the spinal pia mater, consisting of 21 pairs of toothpick-like processes. Extend laterally from the pia through the arachnoid to the dura mater between dorsal and ventral roots of the spinal nerves. Help hold the spinal cord in position within the subarachnoid space.

·         The dura mater arises from mesoderm that surrounds the neural tube.

The pia mater and arachnoid membrane arise from neural crest cells.

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·         All cervical spinal nerves exit through the intervertebral foramina above the corresponding vertebrae, except the eighth cervical nerves, which run inferior to the seventh cervical vertebra. All other spinal nerves exit the intervertebral foramina below the corresponding vertebrae. Therefore, the fifth cervical nerve passes between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, and the fourth thoracic nerve runs between the fourth and fifth thoracic vertebrae.

·         The body of vertebra T4 articulates with the heads of the fourth and fifth ribs. The body of the T3 vertebra articulates with the head of the third and fourth ribs. The neck of a rib does not articulate with any parts of the vertebra. The transverse process of the vertebra articulates with the tubercle of the corresponding rib. Therefore, the transverse process of vertebra T4 articulates with the tubercle of the fourth rib.

·         The splenius capitis is innervated by dorsal primary rami of the middle and lower cervical nerves. The suboccipital nerve (dorsal primary ramus of C1) supplies the muscles of the suboccipital area including the rectus capitis posterior major, obliquus capitis superior and inferior, and the semispinalis capitis.

·         The latissimus dorsi forms boundaries of the auscultation and lumbar triangles and receives blood from the thoracodorsal artery. The levator scapulae, rhomboid minor, and splenius capitis muscles do not form boundaries of these two triangles. The trapezius muscle forms a boundary of the auscultation triangle but not the lumbar triangle. The levator scapulae, rhomboid minor, and trapezius muscles receive blood from the transverse cervical artery. The splenius capitis muscle receives blood from the occipital and transverse cervical arteries.

·         The trapezius receives blood from the superficial branch of the transverse cervical artery. The latissimus dorsi receives blood from the thoracodorsal artery. The rhomboid major receives blood from the deep or descending branch of the transverse cervical artery. The multifidus and longissimus capitis receive blood from the segmental arteries.