SPINE-OSSIFICATION

SUMMARY

1. The C3-L5 vertebrae typically have 3 primary ossification centers that start appearing at 9 weeks in utero and finish primary ossification by one year: the centrum & right, left halves of the neural arch.

2. The C3-L5 vertebrae have 5 secondary ossification centers that start at puberty and finish ossification by 25-30 years of age: 1 spinous process, 2 transverse processes & 2 annular epiphyses at the upper and lower surfaces of the vertebral bodies.

3. C1 has 3 primary ossification centers. C2 has 5 primary ossification centers.

4. C1 has no secondary ossification centers. C2 has 1 center at the tip of the dens, if this fails, leads to os odontoideum.

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.