Abstract:

        Objective: To provide anatomic basis of the vertebral artery foramen for protecting vertebral artery during the lower cervical vertebrae operation. Methods:（1）Anatomic parameters of 20 C_3～7 cervical specimens of human cadavers were measured and analyzed, including the interforaminal distance, the width of vertebral body and pedicle, the distance from medial border of transverse foramen to external border of vertebral body, from medial border of transverse foramen to internal and external borders of uncinate process, from posterior border of transverse foramen to posterior border of vertebrae, from anterior border of transverse foramen to anterior border of vertebrae, and the anteroposterior diameter of transverse foramen and vertebrae. (2)Under CT, above parameters were measured for 30 CSM patients and 50 normal people. Results:(1) From C₃ to C₇, the interforaminal distance, the width of vertebral body, sagittal diameter of vertebrae, sagittal diameter of transverse foramen gradually increased. (2)The distance between medial border of uncinate process and medial border of transverse foramen was within 6mm, and the distance from medial border of transverse foramen to external border of vertebrae in C_3～6 was within 3mm. (3)From C₃ to C₆, the ratio of sagittal diameter of transverse foramen to sagittal diameter of vertebrae was constant(30.32%～31.86%), however, the distance from anterior border of transverse foramen to anterior border of vertebrae gradually decreased, whereas, the distance from posterior border of transverse foramen to posterior border of vertebrae gradually increased. Conclusions: Our anatomic study provides useful information for the prevention of vertebral artery injury during operation.

Key words: cervical vertebrae, vertebral artery, injury, radiographic anatomy, prevention