LUMBAR VERTEBRA

SUMMARY

1. The wedge-shaped discs and not the bodies produce the lumbar lordosis

2. The bodies increase in breadth from above down

3. The L4 transverse process (TP) is the longest

4. The L5 TP is short, massive, pyramidal and is the only TP to join the body and not the junction between the pedicle and lamina

5. The body is kidney shaped, the pedicles attach to the upper half and its back is perforated by a pair of basivertebral veins

6. The vertebral canal is triangular in cross-section


Image: Case courtesy of Craig Hacking, Radiopaedia.org. From the case rID: 82813.

Reference(s)

R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Get it on Amazon.
Drake, Richard L., et al. Gray's Anatomy for Students. Elsevier, 2023. Get it on Amazon.