Anatomy study note · Back
Lumbar vertebrae
The five large vertebrae of the lower back, carrying the weight of the upper body. The lumbar curve is a secondary curve, concave posteriorly, and is deeper in females.
Key points
- Five large vertebrae; lumbar curve is secondary (deeper in females).
- Cord ends ~L1 (adult), ~L3 (infant) → lumbar puncture below L3.
- Iliac crests ↔ L4 spine (landmark for lumbar puncture).
- Smallest foramen L5/S1 traps the large L5 nerve.
- Sacralization of L5 / lumbarization of S1 are variants.
- Sacralization of L5; spondylolisthesis.
- Vertebra = caudal half of one sclerotome + cranial half of the next.
- Bone: type I collagen + hydroxyapatite.
- Osteoblast builds, osteocyte maintains, osteoclast resorbs.
The full note in the atlas also covers
Features · Action · Histology · Development · Clinical notes
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Written from
- Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 2, PDF pp. 129–130, 149–150, 178, 185–186, 207
- Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF pp. 134–137, 137–138
- BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 121–125, 130
More from the back
- Spinal cord
- Spinal nerves
- Suboccipital muscles
- Thoracic vertebrae
- Thoracolumbar fascia
- Vertebral column
- Atlas (C1)
- Axis (C2)
- Cervical vertebrae
- Deep muscles of the back
- Intervertebral discs
- Ligaments of the vertebral column
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