Intervertebral foramen
Last revised by Francis Deng on 28 Aug 2022
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Stewart M, Deng F, Knipe H, et al. Intervertebral foramen. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 18 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-54836
Permalink:
rID:
54836
Article created:
1 Aug 2017,
Michael Stewart ◈
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Michael Stewart had no recorded disclosures.
View Michael Stewart's current disclosures
Last revised:
28 Aug 2022,
Francis Deng ◉
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Francis Deng had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Francis Deng's current disclosures
Revisions:
15 times, by
12 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
Sections:
Synonyms:
- Neural foramen
- Neural foramina
- Neural exit foramina
- Neural exit foramen
- Intervertebral foramina
- Intervertebral foramen
The intervertebral foramina, commonly also called the neural foramina, allow passage of structures out of and into the vertebral canal.
Gross anatomy
Boundaries
- anterior: lower posterolateral aspect of a vertebral body and the intervertebral disc below, in the thoracic and lumbar regions.
- in the cervical region a portion of the vertebral body below, predominately the uncinate process, also contributes to the anterior boundary; also, because the pedicle arises more inferiorly from the back of the vertebral body, a small portion of the vertebral body inferior to the disc is also included in the anterior boundary.
- posterior: facet joint and associated fibrous joint capsule
- superior: inferior vertebral notch of the pedicle
- inferior: superior vertebral notch of the pedicle below
Contents
- spinal nerve root
- dorsal root ganglion
- recurrent meningeal (sinuvertebral) nerve
- segmental spinal arteries
- intervertebral veins
- transforaminal ligaments (when present)
- fat
Radiographic features
MRI
The normal neural exit foramen is said to have an appearance resembling a keyhole on sagittal spinal MRI.
Quiz questions
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References
- 1. Last, R. J., McMinn, R. M. H.. Last's Anatomy, Regional and Applied. (1994) ISBN: 044304662X - Google Books
Incoming Links
Articles:
- Spinal dura mater
- Posterior spinal arteries
- Ligamentum flavum
- Lumbar foraminal stenosis
- Vertebral artery
- Anterior spinal artery
- Uncovertebral joint
- CT thoracic spine (protocol)
- Dorsal root ganglion
- Lumbar canal stenosis
- Intradural extramedullary spinal tumours
- Sinuvertebral nerve
- Keyhole sign (disambiguation)
- CT lumbar spine (protocol)
- Craniocervical fixation
- Spinal stenosis
- Typical cervical vertebrae
Cases:
Multiple choice questions:
Related articles: Anatomy: Spine
-
osteology
- vertebrae
- spinal canal
- cervical spine
- thoracic spine
- lumbar spine
- sacrum
- coccyx
-
anatomical variants
- vertebral body
- neural arch
- transitional vertebrae
- ossicles
- ossification centers
- intervertebral disc
- articulations
- ligaments
- musculature of the vertebral column
- muscles of the neck
- muscles of the back
-
suboccipital muscle group
- rectus capitis posterior major muscle
- rectus capitis posterior minor muscle
- obliquus capitis superior muscle
- obliquus capitis inferior muscle
- splenius capitis muscle
- splenius cervicis muscle
- erector spinae group
- transversospinalis group
- quadratus lumborum muscle
-
suboccipital muscle group
- spinal meninges and spaces
-
spinal cord
- gross anatomy
-
white matter tracts (white matter)
- corticospinal tract
- anterolateral columns
- lateral columns
-
dorsal columns
- fasiculus gracilis (column of Goll)
- fasiculus cuneatus (column of Burdach)
- grey matter
- nerve root
- central canal
- functional anatomy
- spinal cord blood supply
- sympathetic chain
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