Cervical enlargement
Intumescentia cervicalis
Definition
The medulla spinalis is not quite cylindrical, being slightly flattened from before backward; it also presents two swellings or enlargements, an upper or cervical, and a lower or lumbar.
The cervical enlargement is the more pronounced, and corresponds with the attachments of the large nerves which supply the upper limbs. It extends from about the third cervical to the second thoracic vertebra, its maximum circumference (about 38 mm.) being on a level with the attachment of the sixth pair of cervical nerves.
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/).
