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Normal anatomy and anatomic variants of vascular foramens in the cervical vertebrae: a paleo-osteological study and review of the literature

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Abstract

We investigated 923 cervical vertebrae belonging to late-antiquity and medieval skeletal remains and assessed the qualitative and quantitative structural characteristics of transverse foramens (TF) and additional vascular canals. We also reviewed the pertinent literature. Double TF were chiefly observed in C6 (with a right/left side prevalence of 35.7 and 44.4 %, respectively) and C5 vertebrae (23.6 and 23.9 %, right/left side, respectively), while unclosed TF were mainly documented in C1 vertebrae (8.4 %). Retrotransverse canal and retrotransverse groove were present in 8.5 and 17.8 %, respectively, of C1 vertebrae examined, while arcuate foramens and supertransverse foramens were found in 7.3 and 3.7 % of specimens, respectively. TF diameter decreased from C6 to C2 vertebrae, being smallest in C7 and greatest in C1 vertebrae, with no left/right significant difference. There was a significant correlation between TF diameter and stature, but only on the right side. The mean area of the arcuate foramen was lower than the mean area of the ipsilateral TF (24.5 ± 5.7 vs 28.5 ± 7.7 mm2, respectively; p = 0.048), possibly causing compression of the vertebral artery within the arcuate foramen. The study of human vertebrae excavated from archaeological sites is a simple and effective way to analyze the morphology and quantitative anatomy of vascular foramens.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by local funds from Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, Rome, to the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Anatomy, University of Udine Medical School. The authors are grateful to the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Friuli Venezia Giulia for providing access to skeletal material.

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  1. Section of Human Anatomy, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Udine, Piazzale Kolbe 3, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Luciana Travan, Paola Saccheri & Enrico Crivellato

  2. Section of Statistics, Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Hygiene and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Giorgia Gregoraci

  3. Pediatric Department, Riviera-Chablais Hospital, Vevey, Switzerland

    Chiara Mardegan

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  1. Luciana Travan
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Travan, L., Saccheri, P., Gregoraci, G. et al. Normal anatomy and anatomic variants of vascular foramens in the cervical vertebrae: a paleo-osteological study and review of the literature. Anat Sci Int 90, 308–323 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-014-0270-x

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