V entricles

Topography

S ections

S p in a l cord

Pathw ays

Segmentai structure of the spinal cord

Segmenta cervicalia [C1-C8]

Segmenta thoracica [T1-T12]

Segmenta lumbalia [L1-L5]

Segmenta sacralia [S1-S5]

Segmenta coccygea [Co1-Co3]

Radices nervorum

coccygeorum

Fig. 600

Spinal cord segments, Segments medullae spinalis,

and spinal nerve roots, Radices nervorum spinalium;

schematic median section.

As the spinal cord does not follow the growth of the vertebral column,

the course of the spinal roots towards their corresponding segmental

intervertebral foramina becomes steeper from cranial to caudal. In the

neonate, the spinal cord ends at the level of the spinous process of the

fourth lumbar vertebra, whereas in the adult, it extends normally only

to the second lumbar vertebra.