300897 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Vertebral Vein, Vertebral Artery, Osteophyte
Document Summary
The vertebra prominens, or c7, has a distinctive long and prominent spinous process, which is palpable from the skin surface. Sometimes, the seventh cervical vertebra is associated with an abnormal extra rib, known as a cervical rib, which develops from the anterior root of the transverse process. These ribs are usually small, but may occasionally compress blood vessels (such as the subclavian artery or subclavian vein) or nerves in the brachial plexus, causing pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the upper limb, a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome. Very rarely, this rib occurs in a pair. The long spinous process of c7 is thick and nearly horizontal in direction. It is not bifurcated, and ends in a tubercle that the ligamnetum nuchae attaches to. This process is not always the most prominent of the spinous processes, being found only about 70% of the time, c6 or t1 can sometimes be the most prominent.
