Mamillo-accessory notch and foramen: distribution patterns and correlation with superior lumbar facet structure

The mamillary (MP) and the accessory (AP) processes are two important anatomical landmarks in the lumbar vertebral morphology. These two processes form the mamillo-accessory notch (MAN) between them. In the living, the MP and the AP are connected together by the mamillo-accessory ligament (MAL). The medial branches of lumbar dorsal rami pass underneath the MAL. The MAL often undergoes varied degrees of ossification with diverse notching at the junction of these two processes, often with formation of a discrete foramen (MAF). Reports on the distribution of these notches (MAN) and foramina (MAF) are very few and most of them do not discuss such ossification in context of morphology of adjoining structures in the vertebrae. Lumbar vertebral and sacral specimens were screened for three different categories of narrowing at the mamillo-accessory junction: firstly >1/2 notch, secondly ¾ notch, and thirdly MAF and their distribution patterns were mapped along the lumbar spine. Transverse dimensions of superior facet articulating surfaces [length (a)] and widths of MPs [length (b)] were recorded. Relative widths of the MPs were calculated as index M (a/b). Results suggest associations between the degrees of assimilation of the MPs into the facet joints, the index M values, and the different types of mamillo-accessory junctional anatomy. This study may help to understand if MAN and MAF related dorsal rami entrapment neuropathies arise merely due to osteoarthritic ossification of the MAL or could also be accounted for by facet dimensions or degree of MP-facet fusions that abut close to the mamillo-accessory junctions.