Anatomical variation of the spinous process in the cervical vertebrae: A case study

Abstract

A bifid spine is a feature of typical cervical vertebrae such as C3–C6. In contrast to past studies, which have described a bifid spine in the C3–C6 cervical vertebrae, this study is a report on the presence of non bifid spinous process in some of the cervical vertebrae studied. A male cadaver preserved by means of the routine embalming techniques following the completion of dissection was used for bone maceration. The cervical vertebrae were studied for variations. The variation recorded in this study includes the presence of non bifid spinous process of the third, fourth and sixth cervical vertebrae. The presence of unbifided spinous process of the third fourth and sixth cervical vertebra is a rare variation. These findings may be of clinical interest to radiologists, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons, anthropologists and forensic personnel. We suggest that in dealing with abnormalities involving the cervical vertebrae the possibility of anomalies such as the presence of a non bifid spine should always be considered and the adjustment made accordingly since its presence may be misinterpreted in radiological studies and may be responsible for erroneous counting of cervical spines in a skiagram.