The study of incidence of accessory foramen transversaria in the cervical vertebrae

Abstract

Introduction: The cervical vertebrae are identified by the presence of the foramen transversarium in the transverse processes which carries the vertebral artery, vertebral veins and sympathetic nerves. This foramen is known to exhibit variations in their number, size, shape which may lead to various symptoms. Their etiology is related with the variation in the course of vertebral artery due to developmental reasons. The objective of the present study was to find the incidence of accessory foramina transversaria in the cervical spine. Method: This study included 175 dried human cervical vertebrae .Among them 100 were typical cervical vertebrae and 75 were atypical cervical vertebrae. All cervical vertebrae were observed macroscopically for the presence of double foramina transversaria on both the side. The data was compiled and analyzed using Microsoft excels software. Result: Out of 175 cervical vertebrae the double foramen transversarium was found in only 10 vertebrae. The incidence was calculated as 5.71%. Among them unilateral duplication was found in 6 vertebrae (3.42 %) and bilateral duplication was found in 4 vertebrae 2.28 % Conclusion: Thus unilateral double foramen transversarium was more common than the bilateral one. Also the accessory foramina were observed in the lower cervical vertebrae i.e. in C4, C5, C6, and C7. Further the accessory foramina were smaller as compared to the regular foramina.