Spinal cord cross sections

[messengers]

Any mnemonics, diagrams/clever ways to remember what level the spinal cord cross section is if we're given a picture on the exam?

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[dfib slim]

http://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschool/comments/31ve7m/i_made_brainstem_crosssections_that_dont_look/

 

[messengers]

Those are great pictures, but there is only one spinal cord segment there.

What I mean is given a cross section of an actual spinal cord, is there any easy way to remember (or whatever) what level of the cord that segment is? For example one easy rule- is there a lateral horn? Yes- then it is T1-L2.

 

[dfib slim]

Cervical spine - Oval lots of white matter
Thoracic - Round and lateral horns like you said
Lumbar - Round and big ventral horns with lots of gray matter
Sacral - Round and even more gray matter

You can always use the presence of nucleus gracilis and/or cuneatus to help determine where you're at as well.