MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Adult dermatome

Medical Encyclopedia

Adult dermatome

Understanding the nerve distribution along the dermatomes is helpful in determining how certain diseases, such as shingles and some other neurological conditions, target one area of the body. The letter-number combinations show the relationship between each area and its corresponding sensory nerve. The vertebrae are classified as C for cervical, T for thoracic, L for lumbar, and S for sacral. The trigeminal nerve is the fifth cranial nerve, represented by V.

Update Date: 5/26/2006

Updated by: Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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