Apical ligament of dens
Ligament of the spine and skull
The apical ligament of dens (or apical odontoid ligament) is a ligament that spans between the second cervical vertebra in the neck and the skull.
It lies as a fibrous cord in the triangular interval between the alar ligaments, which extends from the tip of the odontoid process on the axis to the anterior margin of the foramen magnum, being intimately blended with the deep portion of the anterior atlantooccipital membrane and superior crus of the transverse ligament of the atlas.
It is regarded as a rudimentary intervertebral fibrocartilage, and in it traces of the notochord may persist.
References
This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 296 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
External links
"Anatomy diagram: 25420.000-1". Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator. Elsevier. Archived from the original on 2015-02-26.
“Apical ligament of dens” enters the record as ligament of the spine and skull. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Apical, ligament and dens can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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