Vertebral arch anomaly

Vertebral arch anomaly

A morphological abnormality of the vertebral arch, i.e., of the posterior part of a vertebra.

A vertebral arch is the posterior part of a vertebra and forms the canal through which the spinal cord passes. A vertebral arch consists of (i) a pair of vertebral pedicles, which are short thick processes that extend from the vertebral body to connect the body to the vertebral arch; (ii) a pari of vertebral laminae (broad plates that extending dorsally and medially from the pedicles fusing with one another to complete the roof of the vertebral arch); (iii) the spinous process (a process that is