Intervertebral disk of sixth thoracic vertebra at a glance
- What it is
- The intervertebral disc between T6 and T7 (the T6–T7 disc), a fibrocartilage pad with a gel-like nucleus pulposus inside a ring-like anulus fibrosus.
- Location
- Between the bodies of T6 and T7, the disc directly below the named vertebra (the T6/T7 disc).
- Function
- Absorbs compressive loads, acts as a shock absorber and allows slight movement between vertebrae.
- Body system
- Skeletal · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA13503 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- The crest on the head of rib 7 is tied to this disc by an intra-articular ligament, so the rib head sits across the disc between its two demifacets.
- Thoracic discs are the thinnest in the column relative to their vertebral bodies, and the rib cage further limits movement, so thoracic disc herniation is rare (well under 1% of all disc herniations).
Structures next to the intervertebral disk of sixth thoracic vertebra
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Thoracic rotator · muscular
- Sixth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of seventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of fifth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Seventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Semispinalis thoracis · muscular
- Descending thoracic aorta · cardiovascular
- Fifth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Main bronchus proper · respiratory
- Levatores costarum breves · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Intervertebral disk of sixth thoracic vertebra (FMA13503). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.