Morphology of the lumbar vertebral canal

In a series of 215 anteroposterior X-ray films, a study was made of the horizontal distance between the pedicles of each lumbar vertebra, first of all sequentially, describing the morphology adopted by the lateral limits of the canal, and secondly determining the absolute value for each level separately and in relation to the variables of sex and age. The absolute value of this distance at each level is related to the thickness of the pedicles and the width of the vertebral bodies of L3 and L4. The values obtained were tested with the appropriate statistics in each case.