Lumbar Spine Anatomy




Computed Tomography (CT) Axial Lumbar



Figure 3-1


Axial CT Image.

L4 pedicle level superiorly, lateral recess. 1. L4 vertebral body 2. L4 pedicle 3. Superior articular process L4 4. Inferior articular process L3 5. Interspinous muscle/ligament L3-4 6. Facet joint L3-4 7. Multifidus muscle 8. Erector spinae muscle 9. Psoas muscle 10. Inferior vena cava 11. Abdominal aorta 12. Cauda equina nerve roots.



Figure 3-2


Axial CT Image.

L4 pedicle inferiorly. 1. L4 vertebral body 2. L4 pedicle 3. L4 lamina 4. L4 spinous process 5. L4 nerve root 6. L4 transverse process 7. Multifidus muscle 8. Erector spinae muscle 9. Psoas muscle 10. Inferior vena cava 11. Abdominal aorta 12. Cauda equina nerve roots.



Figure 3-3


Axial CT Image.

L4-5 neural foramen. 1. L4 vertebral body 2. L4 dorsal root ganglion 3. Cauda equina nerve roots 4. L4 lamina 5. L4 spinous process 6. Multifidus muscle 7. Psoas muscle 8. Right common iliac vein 9. Left common iliac vein 10. Right common iliac artery origin 11. Left common iliac artery origin.



Figure 3-4


Axial CT Image.

L4-5 intervertebral disc. 1. Intervertebral disc L4-5 2. Cauda equina nerve roots 3. L5 superior articular facet L5 4. L4 inferior articular facet L4 5. L4 lamina 6. L4 spinous process 7. L4-5 facet joint 8. Ligamentum flavum 9. Multifidus muscle 10. Psoas muscle 11. Right common iliac artery 12. Left common iliac artery 13. Right common iliac artery 14. Left common iliac vein.



Figure 3-5


Axial CT Image.

L4-5 intervertebral disc/superior L5 endplate. 1. L4-5 intervertebral disc 2. Ligamentum flavum 3. Opacified CSF in thecal sac 4. L5 superior articular facet 5. L4 inferior articular facet 6. Facet joint 7. Multifidus muscle 8. Psoas muscle 9. Right common iliac vein 10. Right common iliac artery 11. Left common iliac artery 12. Superior L4 vertebral endplate.



Figure 3-6


Axial CT Image.

L5 pedicle, lateral recess. 1. L5 vertebral body 2. Opacified CSF in thecal sac 3. L5 lamina, superior cortex 4. L5 transverse process 5. Cauda equina nerve roots 6. L5 pedicle 7. L5 nerve root/sheath in lateral recess 8. L5 spinous process 9. Psoas muscle 10. Multifidus muscle 11. Erector spinae muscle 12. Right common iliac vein 13. Right common iliac artery 14. Left common iliac vein 15. Left common iliac artery.



Figure 3-7


Axial CT Image.

L5-S1 neural foramen. 1. L5 vertebral body 2. Opacified CSF in thecal sac 3. S1 superior articular facet 4. L5 inferior articular facet 5. L5 lamina 6. L5 spinous process 7. L5 dorsal root ganglion 8. Psoas muscle 9. Multifidus muscle 10. Right common iliac vein 11. Right common iliac artery 12. Left common iliac vein 13. Left common iliac artery 14. Iliac crest 15. Ligamentum flavum.



Figure 3-8


Axial CT Image.

L5-S1 intervertebral disc level. 1. L5 inferior vertebral body endplate 2. Posterior L5-S1 intervertebral disc margin 3. Superior articular process S1 4. Inferior articular process L5 5. Ligamentum flavum 6. Posterior facet joint capsule 7. Facet joint 8. Iliac crest 9. Right common iliac artery 10. Right common iliac vein 11. Left common iliac vein 12. Left common iliac artery 13. Psoas muscle 14. Ligamentum flavum.






Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRi) Axial Lumbar



Figure 3-9


Axial T1-weighted MRI.

L3-4 neural foramen level. 1. Intervertebral disc 2. L3 nerve root 3. CSF in thecal sac 4. Ligamentum flavum 5. L3 spinous process 6. Psoas muscle 7. Aorta 8. Inferior vena cava 9. Anterior epidural vein 10. Multifidus muscle 11. Erector spinae muscle 12. Posterior epidural fat.



Figure 3-10


Axial T1-weighted MRI.

L3-4 intervertebral disc level. 1. Nerve root 2. Facet joint 3. Superior articular process L4 4. Inferior articular process L3 5. Intervertebral disc 6. Aortic bifurcation 7. Psoas muscle 8. CSF in thecal sac 9. Lamina 10. Spinous process 11. Multifidus muscle 12. Erector spinae muscle.



Figure 3-11


Axial T1-weighted MRI.

L4 pedicle level. 1. L4 vertebral body 2. Pedicle 3. Superior articular process L4 4. CSF in thecal sac 5. Psoas muscle 6. Multifidus muscle 7. Erector spinae muscle 8. Interspinous muscle/ligament 9. Left common iliac artery 10. Right common iliac artery 11. Transverse process.



Figure 3-12


Axial T1-weighted MRI.

Neural foramen level. 1. L4 vertebra body 2. CSF in thecal sac 3. L4 dorsal root ganglion 4. Ligamentum flavum 5. L4 spinous process 6. Psoas muscle 7. Multifidus muscle 8. Erector spinae muscle 9. Lamina 10. Right common iliac vein 11. Left common iliac vein 12. Right common iliac artery 13. Left common iliac artery 14. Anterior epidural vein.



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Aug 25, 2019 | Posted by in NEUROLOGICAL IMAGING | Comments Off on Lumbar Spine Anatomy

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