Intervertebral disk of tenth thoracic vertebra at a glance
- What it is
- The intervertebral disc between T10 and T11 (the T10–T11 disc), a fibrocartilage pad with a gel-like nucleus pulposus inside a ring-like anulus fibrosus.
- Location
- Between the bodies of T10 and T11, the disc directly below the named vertebra (the T10/T11 disc).
- Function
- Absorbs compressive loads, acts as a shock absorber and allows slight movement between vertebrae.
- Body system
- Skeletal · single, midline structure
- FMA ID
- FMA13507 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Ribs 11 and 12 articulate only with their own vertebrae, so the lowest thoracic discs carry no rib heads and the region moves more freely.
- 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 tenth thoracic vertebra
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Hemiazygos vein · cardiovascular
- Tenth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Intervertebral disk of ninth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Descending aorta · cardiovascular
- Intervertebral disk of eleventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Eleventh thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Ninth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Longissimus thoracis · muscular
- Twelfth thoracic vertebra · skeletal
- Posterior intercostal arteries · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Intervertebral disk of tenth thoracic vertebra (FMA13507). 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.