INDS 212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Conus Medullaris, Filum Terminale, Cauda Equina
4 Jan 2019
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Basic anatomy: spinal cord has 8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, and 5 sacral levels determined by nerve roots that enter/exit at those levels, cervical and lumbar enlargements exist because of the input and output to the limbs. In adult the spinal cord ends between the l1 and l2 vertebral bodies: so you will see that l1 root exits below the l1 vertebrae. Cord level does not equal vertebral level: the filum terminale is an extension of the pia that anchors the cord at the conus medullaris to the bottom of spinal column. In the diagram below notice how the roots descend below the conus medullaris before exiting via the intervertebral foraminae (the red arrows follow one root) Slides below show sagittal and axial images of cord (red arrow) @ different levels (bright signal around cord on. At this axial level only cauda equina is present.
