Glossary

Cancellous Bone - The spongy or honeycomb structure of some bone tissue typically found at the ends of long bones.

Capsule - Combined fibers of anulus and posterior longitudinal ligament. Note: The interface between outer anulus and posterior longitudinal ligament can be indistinguishable, making useful the term "capsule" and the derivative "sub-capsular," which refers to disc tissue beneath the capsule.

Cartilage - The hard, thin layer of white glossy tissue that covers the end of bone at a joint. This tissue allows motion to take place with a minimum amount of friction.

Cavitation - Spaces, cysts, clefts, or cavities formed within the nucleus and inner anulus from disc degeneration.

Central zone - Zone within the vertebral canal between sagittal planes through the medial edges of each facet.

Centrum - The body of a vertebra.

Cervical - The neck region of the spine containing the first seven vertebrae.

Chemonucleolysis - A treatment of an intervertebral disc that consists of an injection of chymopapain, a drug that dissolves part of the disc.

Chronic disc herniation - Disc herniation with presence of calcification, ossification, or gas accumulation within the displaced disc material, suggesting that the herniation is not of recent origin.

Claw osteophyte - Bony outgrowth arising very close to the disc margin, from the vertebral body apophysis, directed, with a sweeping configuration, toward the corresponding part of the vertebral body opposite the disc.

Cobb Angle Measurement - Calculated by selecting the upper and lower end vertebrae in a curve. Erecting perpendiculars to their transverse axes. At their point of intersection, the angle is measured to indicate the curve's angle.

Coccyx - The region of the spine below the sacrum. It is also known as the tailbone.

Collagen - A fibrous protein which is a major constituent of connective tissue, such as skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bones.

Collagenized disc or nucleus - A disc in which the glycosaminoglycans of the nucleus have been replaced by fibrous tissue.

Comminuted Fracture - A fracture in which a bone is broken into more than two pieces. Often internal or external fixation devices are used to maintain proper alignment of the fragments.

Compensatory Curve - A curve, which can be structural, above or below a major curve that tends to maintain normal body alignment.

Compression - The act of pressing together - refers to the loss of vertebral body height either anteriorly, posteriorly or both.

Concentric tear- Tear or fissure of the anulus characterized by separation, or break, of anular fibers, in a plane roughly parallel to the curve of the periphery of the disc, creating fluid-filled spaces between adjacent anular lamellae. See: radial tears, transverse tears. Congenital - Present at and existing from the time of birth.

Contained herniation - Displaced disc tissue that is wholly within an outer perimeter of uninterrupted outer anulus or capsule. 2

Coronal - Refers to a section that divides the body into anterior and posterior portions.

Cortical Bone - Bone tissue which has been depleted of its minerals; e.g. calcium and phosphorous.