18 - Investigation of Filum Terminale Start Point, Length, and Spinal Cord Width at Conus Medullaris

Poster Board Number: 18
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Co-authors:

Justin McGraw, Ph.D - Assistant Professor, Biology and Math Sciences, D'Youville University; Megan Gervasi, Ph.D - Associate Professor, Biology and Math Sciences, D'Youville University

Abstract Body : The experiment investigates spinal cord width and filum terminale length. Previous research has shown that the spinal cord ends somewhere between L1-L2 spinal level (Nasr, 2016). Additional research has shown however, that the most variations occur at the bottom and near the end of spinal cord (Van Uitert et al., 2005). This research further investigates the length of the filum terminale and the width at the conus medullaris. The procedure was conducted using cadavers from the D'Youville University Gross Anatomy Lab. Laminectomies were performed on the cadavers. Spinal cord width at conus medullaris, filum terminale initiation and length were recorded. The primary goal of the experiment was to gain a better understanding of the spinal cord width at conus medullaris and filum terminale length in relation to height, age, and sex. There were no significant differences in spinal cord width at conus medullari between males and females, age (above or below 86 years), or height (above or below 160cm). There were no significant differences in filum terminale length in relation to age or height. There was a significant difference in filum terminale length in relation to sex. A positive correlation was found between filum terminale length and height of subjects. A positive correlation was also found between filum terminale length and spinal cord width at conus medullaris. Overall, these results suggest some relationships but more research should be conducted to determine how significant these differences are.