Accessory transverse foramen

Purpose: the purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of the accessory transverse foramen on dry cervical vertebrae. meterials and methods: eighty-one dry human cervical vertebrae examined from the bone collections in laboratory of the anatomy department of dokuz eylul university medical school which were unknown age and sex. all cervical vertebrae were evaluated for the presence of the accessory transverse foramen macroscopically. results: tthe frequency of double transverse foramen was found 10 (12.34%) of the 81 cervical vertebrae. double transverse foramen was bilateral in 2 (2.47%) of them and unilateral in 8 ( 9.87%) of them. 75% of those unilateral ones (6 of them) were on the right, 25% of them (2 of them) were on the left. conclusion: it is important to know these variations around the cervical vertebrae both to choose operation method and to avoid post-operative complications.