This is a normal vertebral specimen. Please use it for comparison purposes. Slide 2 Numerous vertebral bodies from a normal patient. Note the normal trabecular pattern through the cancellous central portions of the vertebral bodies. Also, note the thin cortex surrounding the vertebral bodies as compared with the thick cortical bone present in tubular bones.
Cancellous bone has five times the available surface area compared with compact, or cortical bone.
For this reason, cancellous bone is more metabolically active than cortical, explaining why early changes of osteoporosis are usually seen first in the spine.