A to Z Entries
Clare E. Milner in Functional Anatomy for Sport and Exercise, 2019
The bones of the thoracic (chest) region are the thoracic vertebrae, sternum, clavicle, and ribs (Figure 22). The costal cartilages are also integral to the structure of this region. This region contains the heart and the lungs, around which the bones of the thorax form a protective cage. There are 12 thoracic vertebrae, each of which has two associated ribs. The 10 superior pairs, seven pairs of true and three pairs of false ribs, are each attached to the sternum (breastbone) anteriorly by the costal cartilage. The first seven pairs of ribs articulate with the sternum directly via their own costal cartilage and are true ribs. The remaining three pairs of anteriorly secured ribs articulate only indirectly with the sternum via the costal cartilage of the rib above. The last two pairs are the floating (free) ribs, which do not have an anterior attachment and are attached only to the eleventh and twelfth lumbar vertebrae respectively. The sternum is divided into three parts. The manubrium is the most superior part and articulates with the first and second pairs of ribs and the clavicle. The body is the largest piece and articulates with the second to seventh pairs of ribs. The most distal part is the xiphoid process, which does not articulate with the ribs.
The Musculoskeletal System and Its Disorders
Walter F. Stanaszek, Mary J. Stanaszek, Robert J. Holt, Steven Strauss in Understanding Medical Terms, 2020
The thoracic vertebrae articulate with the ribs to form the thorax or chest cavity. The upper seven ribs also join in the front of the body with the breast bone or sternum. The eighth, ninth, and tenth ribs are known as vertebrochondral ribs because they join the cartilage of the seventh rib (chondro- denotes cartilage). The lowest two ribs are referred to as floating ribs because they are not connected in front. The pelvic girdle includes the sacrum and coccyx and joins with the vertebral column above and the thigh bones or femurs below.
Pediatric Orthopedic Trauma: Spine and pelvis trauma
David E. Wesson, Bindi Naik-Mathuria in Pediatric Trauma, 2017
Injuries to the thoracolumbar spine are rare and most often present in older children (>8 years). Children who participate in high-risk activities such as football, rugby, skiing, and ATV accidents are at risk [7]. Motor vehicle collisions are also a common cause of spinal injury [8]. Specifically, lap belts can cause intra-abdominal and thoracolumbar spinal injury with a hyperflexion mechanism compressing the anterior structures and posterior column distraction [9]. The thoracic vertebrae with surrounding ribs are inherently more stable and less prone to injury. However, in children, these structures are not well developed. This increases the risk for intra-abdominal and intrathoracic organ damage. The most commonly present symptom is back pain that is identified with midline tenderness in an awake and alert patient. Neurologic injury can occur with high-energy mechanisms and must be ruled out in every patient [7, 10].
Morphing the feature-based multi-blocks of normative/healthy vertebral geometries to scoliosis vertebral geometries: development of personalized finite element models
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2018
Prasannaah Hadagali, James R. Peters, Sriram Balasubramanian
Using the feature-based multi-block hexahedral meshing algorithm in ANSYS ICEM CFD 14.5 (ANSYS, Canonsburg, PA), blocks consisting 8 vertices, 12 edges and 6 faces were created for each vertebra of the 10 YO normative thoracic spine (Figure 2). Vertices, similar to nodes of an element, have coordinates in three dimensions (x, y and z) and flexible to be adjusted. Shape of a block structure relies on the positions of 8 vertices. Surface geometry (in .stl format) of each healthy thoracic vertebra was cross-sectioned in the mid-sagittal plane in order to simplify the process of multi-block development. The development process was initiated from the spinous process, and ended up in anterior region (vertebral body). Unlike a top-down approach where a single block is created around the geometry and later broken to accommodate the geometry (Mao et al. 2013), bottom-up approach was followed in the current attempt. A single block was created covering the tip of the spinous-process (vertebral tail). Another block was created from the existing block via face-extrusion method and their vertices were manually adjusted to fit the surface contour. Similar process was followed for all the sectioned thoracic vertebrae of the healthy subject. The multi-blocks and surface of each segment were mirrored and hexahedral elements with size ranging from 2 to 4 mm were generated. The multi-blocks of each thoracic vertebra of the 10 YO normative thoracic spine will henceforth be termed as ‘multi-block template’.
Computed tomography-guided microwave ablation combined with percutaneous vertebroplasty for treatment of painful high thoracic vertebral metastases
Published in International Journal of Hyperthermia, 2021
Linlin Wu, Jing Fan, Qianqian Yuan, Xusheng Zhang, Miaomiao Hu, Kaixian Zhang
Upper thoracic vertebroplasty may be technically different from that at the levels of lumbar and lower thoracic spines. The width of the thoracic pedicle isthmus is significantly narrower than that of the lumbar vertebrae. The average transverse diameter of the pedicle at the T1 vertebral body is 6.4 mm in women and 7.3 mm in men. At T3, however, the mean diameter is only 3.4 mm in women and 3.9 mm in men [7]. The upper thoracic vertebrae have short and narrow pedicles shaped like a heart (back to front), and the thoracic vertebral arch encloses a small, round spinal canal. Thus, the percutaneous transpedicular approach to the upper thoracic vertebrae is technically challenging and even a small amount of cement leakage can cause serious neurological complications [7]. However, there are few reports regarding treatment for high thoracic vertebral metastasis. Therefore, this study analyzed the efficacy and safety of computed tomography (CT)-guided MWA combined with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in treating painful high thoracic vertebral metastases (T1–T4).
Effects of backrest and seat-pan inclination of tractor seat on biomechanical characteristics of lumbar, abdomen, leg and spine
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2023
Qichao Wang, Yihuan Huo, Zheng Xu, Wenjie Zhang, Yujun Shang, Hongmei Xu
The spine plays various roles in supporting the trunk, protecting the internal organs, controlling human movement and protecting the spinal cord. The adult spine consists of 26 vertebrae, including seven cervical vertebrae (C1–C7), 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1–T12), five lumbar vertebrae (L1–L5), one sacral vertebra and one caudal vertebra from the top to the bottom. The load of spine in different parts is the sum of the weight of the above limbs, muscle tension and external load. Therefore, the spine gradually widens from the top to the bottom, which is in line with the gradual increase in spinal load. The thoracic vertebra is the most important part of human spine, playing important roles in maintaining the stability and driving the movement of human upper limbs. The lumbar spine is located at the bottom of the spine, acting as a junction of the movable segment and the fixed segment. It bears a large load and is the most frequent site for the occurrence of lumbar occupational diseases. Based on these facts, this study selected some thoracic segments and the whole lumbar segment as the objects for analysis.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Articular Processes
- Cervical Vertebrae
- Facet Joint
- Lumbar Vertebrae
- Vertebra
- Vertebral Column
- Joint
- Rib Cage
- Intervertebral Foramen
- Vertebral Foramen