Central Canal of Spinal Cord (Canalis centralis medullae spinalis)
Educational content only — not medical advice.
Anatomy
The central canal of the spinal cord is a tiny cerebrospinal fluid-filled microchannel traversing the longitudinal center of the spinal cord within the gray commissure. Continuous superiorly with the ventricular system at the obex of the fourth ventricle and terminating inferiorly in the filum terminale as the terminal ventricle (ventriculus terminalis of Krause), it is lined by ciliated cuboidal-to-columnar ependymal cells.
Clinical notes
Syringomyelia is pathological cavitation and fluid dilation of the central canal (syrinx), which compresses crossing spinothalamic fibers in the anterior white commissure, producing classic "cape-like" loss of pain and temperature sensation across the upper extremities.
Related structures
Educational references
FAQ
What is the role of the Central Canal of Spinal Cord?
The central canal of the spinal cord is a tiny cerebrospinal fluid-filled microchannel traversing the longitudinal center of the spinal cord within the gray commissure. Continuous superiorly with the ventricular system at the obex of the fourth ventricle and terminating inferiorly in the filum terminale as the terminal ventricle (ventriculus terminalis of Krause), it is lined by ciliated cuboidal-to-columnar ependymal cells.
Why is the Central Canal of Spinal Cord clinically important?
Syringomyelia is pathological cavitation and fluid dilation of the central canal (syrinx), which compresses crossing spinothalamic fibers in the anterior white commissure, producing classic "cape-like" loss of pain and temperature sensation across the upper extremities.
Source & license
BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). license details