Does the anteroposterior diameter of the bony spinal canal reflect its size? An anatomical study

Nine anatomical parameters that may have a relation to the spinal canal size were directly measured in each of 594 cervical and lumbar vertebrae from young adult cadaver skeletons. The anteroposterior diameter of the spinal canal was the only parameter which could be statistically correlated with its cross-sectional area (P less than 0.05), and hence justifies the accepted practice of its use as an indicator of bony spinal canal size.