Spinal Cord Section with Its Nerve Roots, Arteries, and Veins

Description

Centered in the field, a transverse section of adult spinal cord shows the butterfly shaped gray matter with anterior and posterior horns surrounding the central canal, all encircled by white matter funiculi. Yellow dorsal and ventral rootlets emerge from the posterolateral and anterolateral sulci, converging toward the spinal nerve, with dorsal elements positioned posterior to the ventral motor roots in anatomical position. Red arterial channels and blue venous channels track along the pial surface and into the cord substance, framed by the meningeal coverings (pia mater closely investing the cord, with arachnoid and dura more peripheral). Arterial and venous relationships at this level matter because spinal cord ischemia is segmental and often unforgiving. The anterior spinal artery and its sulcal branches supply the anterior two thirds of the cord, including anterior horn cells and the anterolateral system, so compromise during thoracoabdominal aortic repair or anterior spinal artery syndrome can produce motor-predominant deficits with pain and temperature loss while sparing dorsal column modalities. Venous drainage, depicted in parallel, anchors discussions of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula, where venous hypertension drives progressive myelopathy and imaging findings can be misunderstood without a clear map of intradural vessels. Use this plate in neuroanatomy and neuropathology teaching to orient learners to gray versus white matter, rootlet exit zones, and the logic of vascular territories, and in surgical or radiology publications when explaining vascular myelopathies, intradural extramedullary approaches, or the distinction between radicular and intrinsic cord syndromes. A clean cross section. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.