lumbar vertebrae the five vertebrae between the thoracic vertebrae and the sacrum. vertebra magÂ´na the sacrum. odontoid vertebra the second cervical vertebra, or axis. vertebra plaÂ´na a condition of spondylitis in which the body of the vertebra is reduced to a sclerotic disk.
Generally, in the early stages of drowning, very little water enters the lungs: a small amount of water entering the trachea causes a muscular spasm that seals the airway and prevents the passage of both air and water until unconsciousness occurs.
âWith primary drowning, you inhale water and you can't breathe and you die right away,â said Stephen Epstein, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. âBut with secondary drowning, you die because of a secondary injury to the lung caused by a small amount of the water getting into the lung.â. Johnny would have only had to inhale four ounces of water to drown, and even less to injure his lung enough to become a victim of secondary drowning, Epstein said. âDepending on what's in the fluid, it can have numerous effects on the lung,â said Epstein, who practices at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.