D}I{AMIC STUDY OF THE CERVICAL REGION OF VEETEBRAL COLTIIUN IN VARIOUS AGES

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Departmentso l Anatonzya nd,O rthopaed.icS urgery Faculty ol Medicine, Alerandria tJniuersity

Abstract

Previous anatomical, histological and radiological studies of the cervical region of the vertebral column revealed that degenerative changes started in the second decade and increased progressively with age (Sharaf, 1965 & Sharaf et aI lg?1 ). This was attributed to the continuous strain to which the cervical vertebrae were subjected throughout the day by the repeated anteroposterior movement of the cervical vertebrae with the movement of the mandible, (Sharaf, et at lg?B),
with the movement of flexion and extension of the neck and also by the weight of the freely movable head. As it is generally known that there is no correlation between the degree of degenerative changes and the intensity of radicular
pain, the dynamic study of the cervical region of the vertebral co_ lumn could be performed to reveal the incipient disturbances of the nrutual connections between the neighbouring vertebrae (Jan Jirout. 1956). This study aimed at finding the range of movement of the cer_ vical region as a whole, for eaclr age group, as w-ell as the normal range at each intervertebral disc, in order to diagnose any deviation from the normal.

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