Ligament · Neck

Apical ligament of the dens

Ligamentum apicis dentis

A slender strand running straight up the midline from the very tip of the dens to the front edge of the foramen magnum, lying between the two much stronger alar ligaments and in front of the cruciform ligament, which screens it from behind. It is a remnant of the notochord, the embryonic rod around which the vertebral column was laid down, and it is the last surviving marker of that line at this level. It is thin, variable and contributes little mechanically — it is worth knowing for what it represents and for where it sits among its neighbours rather than for what it holds.