Lumbar rib

Assoc Prof Craig Hacking ◉ ◈ and Dr Henry Knipe ◉ ◈ et al.

Lumbar (or 13^th) ribs are a rare anatomical variant and represent transitional vertebrae at the thoracolumbar junction with a prevalence of ~1% ¹. It presents as an additional rib coming off T13 or L1 (depending on numbering classification) and may be unilateral or bilateral. Lumbar ribs are mostly an asymptomatic incidental finding.

References

Anatomy: Spine

osteology
intervertebral disc
- annulus fibrosus
- nucleus pulposus
articulations
ligaments
musculature of the vertebral column
- muscles of the neck
- muscles of the back
  - suboccipital muscle group
    - rectus capitis posterior major muscle
    - rectus capitis posterior minor muscle
    - obliquus capitis superior muscle
    - obliquus capitis inferior muscle
  - splenius capitis muscle
  - splenius cervicis muscle
  - erector spinae group
  - transversospinalis group
  - quadratus lumborum muscle
spinal meninges and spaces
spinal cord
- gross anatomy
- white matter tracts (white matter)
  - corticospinal tract
  - anterolateral columns
  - lateral columns
  - dorsal columns
    - fasiculus gracilis (column of Goll)
    - fasiculus cuneatus (column of Burdach)
- grey matter
- nerve root
  - conjoined nerve root
- central canal
- functional anatomy
  - thoracic autonomic outflow
  - sacral autonomic outflow
- spinal cord blood supply
  - arteries
    - vertebral artery
      - anterior spinal artery
        sulcal artery
      - posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA)
        posterior spinal arteries
    - segmental arteries
      - artery of Adamkiewicz
  - veins
    - spinal segmental veins
      - vertebral venous plexus
      - Batson venous plexus
sympathetic chain
- stellate ganglion

Anatomy: Thoracic

Anatomy: Thoracic

thoracic skeleton
- thoracic cage
  - ribs
    - typical ribs
    - atypical ribs
    - variant anatomy
  - costal cartilage
  - sternum
- thoracic spine
- articulations
muscles of the thorax
spaces of the thorax
thoracic viscera
- tracheobronchial tree
  - trachea
- lungs
- heart
  - cardiac chambers
  - heart valves
  - pectinate muscles
  - cardiac fibrous skeleton
    - aortic annulus
  - coronary arteries
    - coronary arterial dominance
    - myocardial segments
    - left main coronary artery (LMCA)
      - ramus intermedius artery (RI)
      - circumflex artery (LCx)
        
        obtuse marginal branches (OM1, OM2, etc))
        
        Kugel's artery
      - left anterior descending artery (LAD)
        
        diagonal branches (D1, D2, etc)
        
        septal perforators (S1, S2, etc)
    - right coronary artery (RCA)
      - conus artery
      - sinoatrial nodal artery
      - acute marginal branches (AM1, AM2, etc)
      - inferior interventricular artery (PDA)
      - posterior left ventricular artery (PLV)
    - congenital anomalies
  - innervation of the heart
  - fetal circulation
    - foramen ovale
    - fossa ovale
  - pericardium
    - pericardial space
    - oblique pericardial sinus
    - transverse pericardial sinus
    - pericardial recesses
      - aortic recesses
        
        superior aortic recess
        
        inferior aortic recess
      - pulmonic recesses
        
        right pulmonic recess
        
        left pulmonic recess
      - postcaval recess
      - pulmonary venous recesses
        
        right pulmonary venous recess
        
        left pulmonary venous recess
    - pericardial ligaments
    - epicardial fat pad
- esophagus
  - Zenker diverticulum
  - Killian-Jamieson diverticulum
- thymus
  - retrocaval thymus
- breast
  - nipple-areola complex
  - terminal ductal lobular unit
  - axillary tail
    - foramen of Langer
  - mammary fat
  - Montgomery glands
    - Montgomery tubercles
  - Cooper ligaments
    - crests of Duret
  - retromammary space (Chassaignac bursa)
  - lymphatic drainage
    - Sappey plexus
    - intramammary lymph nodes
  - variants
    - supranumerary nipple (polythelia)
    - accessory breast tissue (polymastia)
    - breast hypoplasia
    - amastia
    - amazia
blood supply of the thorax
- arteries
  - thoracic aorta (development)
  - pulmonary trunk
    - left pulmonary artery
      - aberrant left pulmonary artery
    - right pulmonary artery
- veins
  - superior vena cava (SVC)
    - superior cavoatrial junction
    - variant anatomy
  - inferior vena cava (IVC)
    - inferior cavoatrial junction
  - coronary veins
    - cardiac veins which drain into the coronary sinus
      - great cardiac vein
      - middle cardiac vein
      - small cardiac vein
      - posterior vein of the left ventricle
      - vein of Marshall (oblique vein of the left atrium)
    - anterior cardiac veins
    - venae cordis minimae (smallest cardiac veins or thebesian veins)
  - pulmonary veins
    - bronchial veins
  - thoracoepigastric vein
lymphatics
innervation of the thorax

Article information

rID: 25709

System: Musculoskeletal, Chest, Spine

Section: Anatomy

Tag: cases, refs, stub, variant, stub, refs, cases

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

13th rib
Thirteenth rib
Lumbar ribs

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Cases and figures

Case 1: bilateral (CT)Case 1: bilateral (CT)

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Case 2 Case 2

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Case 3Case 3

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