Craniofacial morphology in ancient and modern Greeks through 4,000 years.

Background: Multiple 20th century studies have speculated on the anthropological similarities of the modern inhabitants of Greece with their ancient predecessors. The present investigation attempts to add to this knowledge by comparing the craniofacial configuration of 141 ancient (dating around 2,000-500 BC) and 240 modern Greek skulls (the largest material among relevant national studies).

Method: Skulls were grouped in age at death, sex, era and geographical categories; lateral cephalograms were taken and 53 variables were measured and correlated statistically.

The plague of Athens: an ancient act of bioterrorism?

Recent data implicate Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi as a causative pathogen of the Plague of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (430-426 bc). According to Thucydides, the sudden outbreak of the disease may link to poisoning of the water reservoirs by the Spartans. The siege of a city was aimed at exhausting the supplies of a population, which often led to the outbreak and spread of epidemics.

Neurosurgery during the Bronze Age: a skull trepanation in 1900 BC Greece.

Objective: Paleoneurosurgery represents a comparatively new developing direction of neurosurgery dealing with archaeological skull and spine finds and studying their neurosurgical aspects. Trepanation of the cranial vault was a widespread surgical procedure in antiquity and the most convincing evidence of the ancient origin of neurosurgery. The present study considers a case of trepanation from the Middle Bronze Age Greece (1900-1600 B.

Paleopathological findings in radiographs of ancient and modern Greek skulls.

Objective: The skull, when portrayed radiologically, can be a useful tool in detecting signs of systemic diseases and results of pathological growth mechanisms. The aim of this study was therefore to examine, compare, and classify findings in cranial configuration of pathological origin, in modern and ancient skulls.

Materials And Methods: The material consists of 240 modern and 141 ancient dry skulls.

Facial reconstruction of an 11-year-old female resident of 430 BC Athens.

Although modern standards of ideal proportions and facial esthetics are based mostly on observations of human faces as depicted in Classical Greek masterpieces of art, the real faces of ordinary ancient Greeks have, until now, remained elusive and subject to the imagination. Objective forensic techniques of facial reconstruction have never been applied before, because human skeletal material from Classical Greece has been extremely scarce, since most decent burials of that time required cremation. Here, the authors show stage by stage the facial reconstruction of an 11-year-old girl whose skull was unearthed in excellent condition from a mass grave with victims of the Plague that struck Athens of 430 bc.

Dental status and orthodontic treatment needs of an 11-year-old female resident of Athens, 430 BC.

This report presents the skeletal and dental features of "Myrtis", an 11-year-old female resident of ancient Athens back in 430 BC. Her skeleton was unearthed in an archaeological excavation of a mass burial pit located in the outskirts of Kerameikos' ancient cemetery of Athens. "Myrtis" is believed to have been one of the numerous hapless victims of the Plague of Athens.

Ancient typhoid epidemic reveals possible ancestral strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi.

In contrast to other serotypes of Salmonella enterica, S. Typhi is exclusively adapted to human hosts. Recently, S.

DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens.

Background: Until now, in the absence of direct microbiological evidence, the cause of the Plague of Athens has remained a matter of debate among scientists who have relied exclusively on Thucydides' narrations to introduce several possible diagnoses. A mass burial pit, unearthed in the Kerameikos ancient cemetery of Athens and dated back to the time of the plague outbreak (around 430 BC), has provided the required skeletal material for the investigation of ancient microbial DNA.

Objective: To determine the probable cause of the Plague of Athens.

Improvement of facial appearance and nocturnal breathing with geniotomy (sliding genioplasty): report of two cases.

This article reports on two cases of nonobese female patients who presented in an orthodontic practice complaining of dental malocclusion and facial dysharmony. Because of the observed clinically and radiographically extreme mandibular retrognathia, they were referred for a sleep study and were found to have mild sleep apnea. Surgery in the form of advancement geniotomy was offered to relieve their retroglossal obstruction, improve their nocturnal sleep, and simultaneously address their facial esthetic concerns.

De novo inv(2)(p12q34) associated with Klippel-Feil anomaly and hypodontia.

Unlabelled: The present case report describes a patient with Klippel-Feil anomaly (KFA) and oligodontia, carrying a de novo pericentric inversion of chromosome 2 (p12q34). KFA is characterised by congenital vertebral fusion of the cervical spine and a wide spectrum of associated anomalies. It therefore constitutes a heterogenous group of clinical conditions and has been classified morphologically, although its aetiology remains unclear.