Case report: Boundaries of oncological and traumatological medical care in ancient Egypt: new palaeopathological insights from two human skulls.

The present case studies report malignant neoplastic and traumatic lesions observed on two ancient Egyptian skulls held at the Duckworth Collection (Cambridge University). The analysis aims to characterise the lesions and provide a diagnosis using a methodology based on micro-CT scanning and microscopic bone surface analysis. Results pointed towards neoplastic lesions in both cases and healed severe skull trauma in one of them suggesting successful traumatological therapy.

A gastric sarcoma from 3000 years ago: paleopathological diagnosis at the field.

Objective: Ancient remains tell a lot to those who can solve their mysteries. Mummified remains of individuals have the potential to tell their life stories. Pathological conditions in mummies are identified, commonly, thorough macroscopic inspection and radiological techniques.

Congenital kyphosis due to a body agenesis from Ancient Egypt.

In Paleopathology, total lack of a vertebral body is a rare finding, mostly due to infectious diseases or tumors. We report the case of an adult male from the necropolis next to "Temple of the Millions of Years" of Thutmose III dated to the Late Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period (2345-2055 BCE). He showed a fracture of T12, more than 50%, associated with the complete disappearance of the body of L1 and bilateral transverse process.

A new methodology to estimate flat foot in skeletal remains - the example of Mediterranean collections.

Flat feet are considered a postural defect caused by the collapse of the longitudinal arch, producing complete or near-complete contact of the sole of the foot with the ground. has been well-studied in clinical literature and paleoanthropology but has not been approached extensively in bioarchaeology. The main difficulty is related to the diagnosis of this pathology based exclusively on bone remains.

Syrinx in Spinal Cord in Mummified Individual from West Thebes (Egypt).

We analyzed a total of 36 partial or complete mummies containing neural structures from Sharuna and Qarara (Middle Egypt) and Dra Abu-el Naga, West Thebes (Upper Egypt). Individual TT16 13.3-B06-Ind07 corresponded to a partial mummy from T2 to T11.

Earliest Probable Case of Mueller-Weiss Disease From Ancient Egypt.

Mueller-Weiss disease is an alteration of the tarsal navicular that is primarily due to anomalous ossification of the bone and lateral deviation of the talar head associated with screw-like movement through the axis of the subtalar joint. This syndrome tends to be associated with various degrees of flatfoot and hindfoot valgus combined with subtalar joint varus. Ancient cases of Mueller-Weiss disease have not been described in specialized literature.

A case of enchondroma from Carolingian necropolis of St. Pere De Terrassa (Spain): An insight into the archaeological record.

Enchondromas occur with an estimated modern incidence rate of 27.7% of benign bone tumors (Hauben and Hogendoorn, 2010), but few are represented in the paleopathological record. The medieval site of St.

Oldest epiphyseal osteochondroma in a subadult from Ancient Egypt.

Benign bone tumours are pathologies frequently encountered in archaeological human remains, with the most common being osteoma and osteochondroma. We present the case of a juvenile individual recovered from the Necropolis of Sharuna, Middle Egypt and dated to the end of Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt ( 2150 BC), showing an osteochondroma arising from the proximal epiphysis of the right tibia which, in all likelihood, affected the patellar tendon in life. Osteochondromas are usually discovered during childhood and adolescence.

Oldest Mummified Case of Hallux Valgus from Ancient Egypt.

Hallux valgus is the most common orthopedic problem of the adult foot. The etiology can be congenital, associated with the occurrence of metatarsus primus varus, or acquired, which is closely related to wearing ill-fitting shoes. Hallux valgus occurs almost exclusively in shod societies and, therefore, is a very uncommon finding in archaeological remains.

Meningeal Preservation in a Child Mummy from Ancient Egypt.

Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so they would remain lifelike. Mummification of bodies was originally a natural process in Egypt, and it evolved to a sophisticated embalming system to preserve the individual for the afterlife. Afterwards, mummification continued to be practiced in Egypt for some 3000 years, lasting until the end of the Christian era.

Hip Dislocation and Dystocia in Early Medieval Times: Possible Evidence of Labor Maneuver.

Background: In ancient times, maternal mortality would occur frequently, particularly during labor. Evidence of dystocia resulting in the death of a pregnant woman is very infrequent in paleopathologic literature, with only a few cases being demonstrated.

Case: In the early medieval site of Casserres, the skeleton of a young woman with a fetus in the pelvic region was found.

Sex estimation from the navicular bone in Spanish contemporary skeletal collections.

Sexual estimation is fundamental to reconstruct the biological profile of individuals, but postdepositional factors can alter the resistance of the bones, thereby preventing accurate diagnosis especially when the skull and the pelvis are absent. Navicular bones are usually well preserved in archeological and forensic contexts and can a good alternative to discriminate sex. On the basis of these aspects, the present investigation analyzed the sexual dimorphism in 231 pairs of navicular bones from documented contemporary collections from Spain.

Surgical treatment for an uncommon headache: A gap of 4800 years.

Background Surgical management of headache due to anomalies in the cervical spine is uncommon, as most cases improve with drugs and/or physical therapy. Case We report two instances of a very uncommon congenital upper cervical spine anomaly due to the presence of a pseudoarthrosis between a unilateral paracondylar process in the base of the skull and an epitransverse process arising from the transverse apophysis (PCP/ETA). The first one corresponds to a male on whom an endoscopic guided puncture was performed, and the second to an adult male from the Neolithic period who showed two cranial trepanations together with the presence of morphine metabolites in both bones and dental calculus.

[A sarcophagus with a surprise: computed tomography of a mummy from the Late Period of ancient Egypt].

Introduction: Diagnostic imaging techniques, at present especially computed tomography (CT), have become the most important noninvasive method for the study of mummies because they enable high resolution images and three-dimensional reconstructions without damaging the mummified subject. We present a sarcophagus with a mummy hidden inside that was acquired by a gallery in Barcelona.

Material And Methods: The sarcophagus and mummy were examined by CT at the Hospital Universitari Sagrat Cor in Barcelona.

Pathological variations in mummified feet between two near-distance/long-time populations in Ancient Egypt.

Background: In ancient populations, a significant quantity of foot pathology was related either to the type of footwear they used or the underlying terrain they walked on. Our study was carried out to analyze these parameters with the foot pathologies the mummies presented.

Methods: Between 2006 and 2012, more than 650 individuals were recovered from the Sharuna and Qarara necropolis (Middle Egypt) dating from the VIth Dynasty of the first Ptolemaic Period to the second Coptic Period.

Approach to the diagnosis of unusual carpal ankylosis from ancient Egypt.

Objectives: Carpal fusion is not an uncommon finding in archaeological bones. The majority of cases are due to inflammatory or infectious diseases and those are usually associated with other major alterations in the skeleton.

Methods: Two distinct individual cases, both adult females recovered from the Necropolis of Sharuna in the Middle Egypt from the Ptolemaic Period (IV to I BC) are presented in this study.