Spinal cord blood supply
copied shamelessly from gray's
longitudinal arteries
- anterior spinal artery (origin: vertebral arteries)
- 2x posterior spinal arteries
-
- 8-10 segmental medullary arteries
feeder arteries
enter the vertebral canal through the intervertebral foramina at every level
origin:
- vertebral and deep cervical arteries in the neck
- the posterior intercostal arteries in the thorax
- lumbar arteries in the abdomen
radicular arteries
- direct branches from aorta
- largest = spinal artery of Adamkiewicz in thoracic/lumbar region
venous drainage
- run longitudinally
- Two pairs of veins on each side bracket the connections of the posterior and anterior roots to the cord. One midline channel parallels the anterior median fissure.
■
One midline → posterior median sulcus
These longitudinal channels drain into an extensive
internal vertebral plexus in the extradural (epidural)
space of the vertebral canal, which then drains into seg-
mentally arranged vessels that connect with major sys-
temic veins, such as the azygos system in the thorax. The
internal vertebral plexus also communicates with intra-
cranial veins
#neuroanatomy #incomplete #needs-pictures
INCOMPLETE TODO: pls clean up formatting