Spinal Cord Section Including Nerve Roots, Arteries, and Veins

Description

Shown in transverse section, the spinal cord is opened to the classic butterfly of gray matter with anterior and posterior horns surrounding the central canal, encircled by peripheral white matter funiculi. Along the anterolateral and posterolateral sulci, multiple ventral (anterior) and dorsal (posterior) rootlets converge toward their respective roots as they leave the cord, with dorsal rootlets positioned more posteriorly and ventral rootlets more anteriorly. A pial vascular plexus invests the cord surface while longitudinal vessels track along the midline, the anterior spinal artery running in the anterior median fissure and paired posterior spinal arteries coursing near the posterolateral sulci, with accompanying spinal veins draining into a circumferential network. Vascular relationships at the cord surface matter because cord perfusion is segmental and unforgiving. Anterior spinal artery compromise, including from radiculomedullary feeder loss during thoracoabdominal aortic surgery (classically involving the artery of Adamkiewicz), preferentially injures anterior horn cells and anterolateral tracts, producing the pattern of anterior spinal artery syndrome. Keep the rootlets in mind: radicular arteries enter alongside them, and small surgical or compressive insults at the intervertebral foramen can have outsize neurologic consequences. Use this rendering to teach spinal cord internal anatomy and tract organization in neuroanatomy, to support neurosurgical and vascular lectures on radiculomedullary supply, or to illustrate publisher figures on spinal cord infarction, transverse myelitis differentials, and the microanatomy that underlies myelopathy patterns on MRI. It also reads well in board-prep material when you need a clean correlation between rootlets, the pial network, and the anterior spinal artery on a single plate. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.