The cortical shell architecture of human cervical vertebral bodies

Study Design. An anatomic study of cervical vertebral bodies. Objectives. To provide quantitative information on the cortical shell archi tecture of the middle and lower cervical vertebral bodies. Summary of Background Data, Some external dimensions have been measured, bu t little quantitative data exists for the cortical shell architecture of th e vertebral bodies of the cervical spine. Methods. Twenty-one human cervical vertebral bodies (C3-C7) were sectioned along parasagittal planes into five 1.7-mm thin slices for each vertebra. R adiographs of each slice were digitized, and external and internal dimensio ns were measured. Averages and standard deviations were computed. Single fa ctor analysis of variance was used to determine significant (P < 0.05) diff erences between the vertebral levels. Results. The superior endplate was thickest in the posterior region (range 0.74-0.89 mm) and thinnest in the anterior region (range 0.44-0.56 mm). The inferior endplate was thickest in the anterior region (range 0.61-0.81 mm) and thinnest in the posterior region (range 0.49-0.62 mm). In the central region, the superior endplate (range 0.42-0.58 mm) was thinner than the inf erior endplate (range 0.53-0.64 mm). Variation with vertebral level was dep endent on the dimension studied. Conclusions. Comprehensive quantitative anatomic data of the middle and low er cervical vertebral bodies have been obtained, This may be useful in impr oving the understanding of the three-column and other vertebral-fracture th eories, the fidelity of the finite element models of cervical spine, and th e designs of surgical instrumentation.