What does C1 C7 stand for in medical terms?

The cervical spine, also known as the neck, is comprised of seven vertebral bodies (C1-C7) that make up the upper most part of the spine. These vertebrae connect the spine to the skull.

What is unique about C1 C2 and C7 vertebrae and what are their names?

The first 2, C1 and C2, are highly specialized and are given unique names: atlas and axis, respectively. C3-C7 are more classic vertebrae, having a body, pedicles, laminae, spinous processes, and facet joints. C1 and C2 form a unique set of articulations that provide a great degree of mobility for the skull.

What is the definition of cervical vertebrae?

The cervical vertebrae are the seven cylindrical bones, or vertebral bodies (C1-C7), that provide support and structure for the cervical spine. The segments in the cervical spine contain openings in each vertebral body for arteries to carry blood to the brain(vertebral foramen). …

What are the bones of the spine C1 C7 called?

The cervical spine has 7 stacked bones called vertebrae, labeled C1 through C7. The top of the cervical spine connects to the skull, and the bottom connects to the upper back at about shoulder level.

What is the C1 vertebrae also known as?

The C1 vertebra, also called atlas, is shaped like a ring. The C2 vertebra has an upward-facing long bony process called the dens. The dens forms a joint with the C1 vertebra and facilitates its turning motions, thereby allowing the head to turn in different directions.

What are the 7 cervical vertebrae?

It consists of 7 bones, from top to bottom, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7. In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae.

Where is your C7 vertebrae?

The C6 C7 spinal motion segment is located in the lower part of the cervical spine and consists of the C6 and C7 vertebrae, and the anatomical structures connecting them. This segment helps provide neck flexibility, supports the cervical spine and head, and protects the spinal cord and nerve pathways.

What does C7 affect?

Less Common Causes of C6-C7 Pain. At the C6-C7 level, cervical radiculopathy affects the C7 nerve root, and symptoms can include pain, tingling, numbness, and/or weakness that radiates from the neck down the shoulder and arm, to the forearm and into the palm and middle finger of the hand.

What is the function of the cervical vertebrae?

The cervical spine functions to provide mobility and stability to the head while connecting it to the relatively immobile thoracic spine. The movement of nodding the head takes place predominantly through flexion and extension at the joint between the atlas and the occipital bone, the atlanto-occipital joint.

Where are cervical vertebrae located?

The cervical spine, your neck, is a complex structure making up the first region of the spinal column starting immediately below the skull and ending at the first thoracic vertebra.