The Foramen Transversarium of Typical and Atypical Cervical Vertebrae: Morphology and Morphometry

Abstract

SHEIK ABDUL, R.; LAZARUS, L.; RENNIE, C. & SATYAPAL, K. S. The foramen transversarium of typical and atypical cervical vertebrae: morphology and morphometry. SUMMARY:The seven cervical vertebrae found in the human body are classified into typical and atypical vertebrae. Their transverse processes contain foramen transversarium (FT) and traditionally there is one foramen present on each side, of similar size. However, variations of this foramen regarding its shape, size, number, laterality, location and osteometric characteristics have been documented in the literature. This morphological and morphometric study was conducted on 126 cervical vertebrae (82 typical and 44 atypical) obtained from the osteological bank at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to produce a database which may serve as a useful guideline to medical personnel. There were variations observed regarding shape, number of FT, laterality and position, which have not previously been reported. The most types of variations were evident in the typical cervical vertebrae, then secondly, the seventh cervical vertebrae. The axis vertebrae did not display any accessory FT or variations.

Morphometric Study and Anatomical Variation with its Incidence of Foramina Transversaria on the Lower Cervical Vertebrae

“…In our study, type 1 was the most common FT shape found at C3-C6, similar to previous results from South African (Abdul et al, 2018) as shown in Table VI. However, type 4 was most common at C7, which was comparable to findings in Japanese, Chinese, Indian (Kimura et al, 1985) Chilean (Guerra et al, 2017), and South African (Abdul et al, 2018) populations. By contrast, a study in an Israeli population by Taitz et al (1978) found only type 5 FT at C7.…”

“…Consideration of lateral size differences may help prevent left vertebral neurovascular damage during spinal surgery. Previous studies in South Africa (Abdul et al, 2018) and Israel (Taitz et al, 1978) have reported longer C3-C6 AP and T diameters on the left side than on the right. In our study, while this was true for C3-C5 (Table V), the right T diameter at C6 was longer than on the left side, as was the AP diameter at C7.…”

“…FT variation is clinically significant to radiologists and surgeons planning posterior operations at the lower cervical spine (C3-C7). The morphometry (such as type and diameter) and rates of variance of FT have been found to differ by population, with previous studies being conducted in Israel, Japan, China, India, Italy, Turkey, the US, Greece, Spain, Chile, South Africa, and Korea (Taitz et al 1978;Kimura et al, 1985;Sangari et al, 2015;Zibis et al, 2016;Quiles-Guiñau et al, 2017;Guerra et al, 2017;Abdul et al, 2018;Malla et al, 2018;Gupta & Agarwal, 2019). Ours was the first study to report the incidence of variance and morphometric features of the lower cervical spine FT in a Thai population.…”

“…Classification of the foramina transversaria (FT).The types of FT belonging to lower cervical spines were classified into 5 types including the round (type 1), elliptical with anteroposterior (type 2), elliptical with transverse (type 3), elliptical with oblique from right to left (type 4), and elliptical with oblique from left to right side (type 5) as demonstrated in Figure 2 based on previous studies (Taitz et al, 1978;Zibis et al, 2016;Guerra et al, 2017;Abdul et al, 2018).…”

Anatomical Variations of Foramen Transversarium of 7th Cervical Vertebrae and Its Clinical Significance

“…Abdul et al studied the foramen transversarium of typical (n=82) and atypical (44) cervical vertebrae. They also observed different shapes of FT of the seventh cervical vertebra as the current study (Sheik-Abdul et al, 2018). Variations observed may be because of racial and sample size used in these studies.…”