~ 3 min
In this note, we are going to discuss the regions and curvatures of the vertebral column.
The vertebral column (spine, spinal column or backbone) is part of the axial skeleton and consists of 32–34 vertebrae.
Regions of the vertebral column
The vertebral column is divided into 5 regions, each containing a specific number of vertebrae:
- Cervical region (cervical vertebrae) – 7 vertebrae
- Thoracic region (thoracic vertebrae) – 12 vertebrae
- Lumbar region (lumbar vertebrae) – 5 vertebrae
- Sacral region (sacral vertebrae) – 5 vertebrae, which fuse to form a single bone, the sacrum
- Coccygeal region (coccygeal vertebrae) – 3 to 5 vertebrae, which also fuse to form a single bone, the coccyx
Curvatures of the vertebral column
From a sagittal perspective, the vertebral column is not perfectly straight but has several curvatures:
- Cervical lordosis – forward curvature
- Thoracic kyphosis – backward curvature
- Lumbar lordosis – forward curvature
- Sacral kyphosis – backward curvature
Golosary
Vertebral column
- vertebral column
- columna vertebralis
- vertebra
- vertebra
- vertebrae
- vertebrae
- cervical vertebrae
- vertebrae cervicales
- thoracic vertebrae
- vertebrae thoracicae
- lumbar vertebrae
- vertebrae lumbales
- sacral vertebrae
- vertebrae sacrales
- sacrum
- os sacrum
- coccygeal vertebrae
- vertebrae coccygeae
- coccyx
- os coccygis
- cervical lordosis
- lordosis cervicis
- thoracic kyphosis
- kyphosis thoracica
- lumbar lordosis
- lordosis lumbalis
- sacral kyphosis
- kyphosis sacralis
