1,721,375 research outputs found
Vorläufige Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung an den aus der Wüstung Drudewenshusen geborgenen Skeletfunden
No full textBook review: Tatham Mound and The Bioarchaeology of European Contact: Disease and Depopulation in Central Gulf Coast Florida
No full textPalaeopathological investigations of cremated human remains – Methodological and comparative study on the example of traces of pathological conditions in the skull
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Mastoiditis-Paleopathological Evidence of a Rarely Reported Disease
No full textSince antibiotics have become available, mastoiditis has become a rare disease in modern Western societies. However, it is still common in developing countries. It can be hypothesized that in earlier historical and prehistoric times, mastoiditis must have posed a serious threat to people's lives, and that the prevalence of this disease is probably underrepresented in the paleopathological literature. The present study identifies pathological changes in the pneumatized cells of the mastoid process in human skeletal samples from two early medieval cemeteries from Germany (Dirmstein: n = 152 mastoids, Rhens: n = 71 mastoids), using macroscopic, endoscopic, low-power microscopic, scanning-electron and light microscopic techniques, and draws some epidemiological conclusions as to the frequency of the disease diagnosed in the archaeological samples. Osseous changes because of mastoiditis were diagnosed in 83.4% of the temporal bones. The frequency in the skeletal sample from Dirmstein was higher than in the sample from Rhens. In both populations, males were more often affected than females and older individuals more often than younger individuals. The high frequency of mastoiditis observed was most likely due to an accumulation of osseous changes during individual lifetimes and supports the hypothesis that mastoiditis was a serious health problem in pre-antibiotic times. It may be assumed that subclinical forms of mastoiditis and their osseous manifestations may even nowadays occur more often than was previously thought. It is suggested that the disease should be given more consideration in paleopathological investigations. Am J Phys Anthropol 138:266-273, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc
Vestiges of autopsies and surgical procedures in the “Baron von Asch” skulls of the Blumenbach Skull Collection in Göttingen
No full textIdentification of typical marker proteins of Treponema pallidum in compact human bone using morphological and biochemical techniques
No full textAbstract In ancient human compact bone tissue, we can present the identified marker proteins of Treponema pallidum , the lipoproteins 47 kDa, 17 kDa and 15 kDa in three adult individuals from Austria (thirteenth–seventeenth century CE), and in a 5 to 6-years-old child from Germany (seventeenth–nineteenth century CE). These three identified lipoproteins are also used to diagnose syphilis in current medicine. The individuals selected for this study predominantly exhibit the macroscopic and microscopic features of treponemal disease. However, the result of the proteomic analysis can confirm the diagnosis of treponematosis without any doubt. The extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in well-preserved ancient human compact bone are still tightly bound to hydroxyapatite and/or collagen. With our solubilization technique, the entrapped ECM proteins are solubilized and identified with special antibodies in Western blot. Our techniques open up more possibilities to diagnose also other infectious diseases and tumors in humans who lived many thousands years ago
Massive periostosis in a child from Neolithic Gebel es-Silsileh, Egypt
No full textIn 2015 a surprising find of human bone fragments from a child was made in a collection of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, Berlin. These bone fragments from Southern Egypt date to 3400–3300 BC and represent the distal parts of both femora and the proximal parts of both tibiae (bones around the knee joint). The bones have a specific appearance, probably indicating a systemic disease. Due to the incomplete state of the skeletal remains, the distribution of the lesions throughout the entire skeleton could not be observed, thus preventing a better diagnosis of the underlying pathological process. The poor collagen preservation of the bone precluded aDNA testing for pathogens. The bone fragments were instead subjected to radiographic and microscopic analysis which revealed a recurrent periosteal process accompanied by a distinct osteoclastic component. A possible diagnosis might be an underlying unknown pathological process, leading to the development of a secondary Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy (HOA)
Differential Diagnosis of Mastoid Hypocellularity in Human Skeletal Remains
No full textMastoid hypocellularity is frequently used as an indicator of chronic otits media in paleopathological investigations. The condition can be caused by a poor development of air cells during infancy and early childhood (primary hypocellularity) or by obliteration of air cells with bone during later life (secondary hypocellularity). We performed a macroscopic, radiographic, and microscopic study of pneumatization patterns in 151 mastoid processes of individuals from an early-medieval cemetery in Germany, With emphasis on the architecture of the nonpneumatized portion of hypocellular mastoid processes. Two types of primary mastoid hypocellularity were distinguished. The first, was characterized by a poorly defined boundary between the pneumatized portion and the nonpneumatized portion and a trabecular thickening in. the spongy bone of the latter. The second showed a well-defined boundary between the pneumatized portion and the nonpneumatized portion and normal spongy spongy bone and normal spongy bone architecture in the latter. The key feature for the diagnosis of secondary hypocellularity was the recognition of the walls of former air cells. Our observations closely match the histopathological. findings by Wittmaack (Wittmaack: Uber die normale und die pathologische Pneumatisation des Schlafenbeins. Jena: Gustav Fischer [1918]), who developed a concept of the normal pneumatization process of the temporal bone and the pathogenesis of aberrant pneumatization. We agree with Wittmaack's view that two types of primary mastoid hypocellularity can be distinguished morphologically. Regarding the pathogenesis of these types, we, however, conclude that Wittmaack's concept needs to be revised and updated. Further studies are required to establish the relationship between morphological findings in cases of mastoid hypocellularity and the health status of individuals. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:442-453, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, In
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