9 important information about spinal dura mater

 

Spinal dura mater

1. 1.     Spinal dura is formed by dense irregular connective tissue, outermost of the three meninges protecting the central nervous system.
2. 2.    The cranial dura has two layers: the endosteal dura and the meningeal dura. The meningeal dura continues as the spinal dura through the foramen magnum and ends at the lower border of the second sacral (S2) vertebra.
3. 3.    When a spinal nerve exits the vertebral canal through an intervertebral foramen, the spinal dura and spinal arachnoid mater envelop it. The spinal dura blends with the epineurium of spinal nerves.
4. 4.    In adults, the spinal cord ends at the first lumbar (L1) vertebra, but the spinal dura and arachnoid mater continue down the vertebral column to the end of the second sacral (S2) vertebra.
5. 5.    The spinal epidural and subdural spaces are continuations of the cranial epidural and subdural spaces.
6. 6.    The space between the spinal dura mater and the periosteum of the vertebral column is the epidural space.
7. 7.    The spinal epidural space contains important structures like epidural fat, veins, and arteries, crucial for administering epidural anesthesia during childbirth.
8. 8.    The spinal dura mater is innervated by sensory fibers of the meningeal branches of spinal nerves, supplying structures like the annulus fibrosus of intervertebral discs and facet joints.
9. 9.    Blood supply to the spinal dura mater primarily comes from the anterior and posterior radicular arteries, with venous drainage following the arterial supply.