Axis (C2)

Study entry

Parts

The sturdiest of the cervical vertebrae. From the body rises the dens (odontoid process), the pivot around which the atlas turns with the head. It has two large, flat superior articular surfaces and a large, bifid spinous process.

Joints

Atlantoaxial (the dens with the anterior arch of the atlas and the transverse ligament; the superior surfaces with the lateral masses of the atlas); with C3 through the disc and the zygapophysial joints.

Palpation

The spinous process is felt deep in the groove of the nape.

Source: cap. 2, «Vértebras: vértebras cervicales» y tabla 2-1

Other structures in this region

• Typical cervical vertebra (C3–C6)
• Atlas (C1)
• Vertebra prominens (C7)
• Typical thoracic vertebra (T1–T12)
• Typical lumbar vertebra (L1–L5)
• Sacrum
• Coccyx