Alar ligaments
Ligamenta alaria
- Eponym: Mauchart's ligaments
Definition
The alar ligaments (check ligament of the odontoid) connect the sides of the dens (on the axis, or the second cervical vertebra) to tubercles on the medial side of the occipital condyle.
The alar ligaments are strong, rounded cords, which arise one on either side of the upper part of the odontoid process, and, passing obliquely upward and lateralward, are inserted into the rough depressions on the medial sides of the condyles of the occipital bone.
The alar ligaments limit rotation of the cranium and therefore receive the name of check ligaments.
References
This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).
