Anatomical and biomechanical characteristics of basivertebral foramen and its clinical significance.

Abstract

Basivertebral foramen is a natural orifice in the posterior wall of the vertebral body existing in humans and mammals, through which the basal vertebral vein, branch of lumbar artery and recurrent branch of spinal nerve enter and exit the vertebral body. Basivertebral foramen changes the local microstructure of the vertebral body, resulting in cortical defect and sparse trabecular bone in the central region of the vertebral body, thus affecting its biomechanical characteristics and making its central region a "weak" area of the vertebra. Some characteristic injuries of the vertebra are related to basivertebral foramen, such as vertebral compression fracture and intervertebral cleft, vertebral burst fracture and posterior upper vertebral fracture fragment, and cement leakage during treatment. In this article, the anatomical and developmental biological characteristics of basivertebral foramen, the impact of basivertebral foramen on biomechanical characteristics, and the treatment of basivertebral foramen related vertebral diseases are reviewed, in order to provide references for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of vertebral injuries.