Recognition of muscle attachment sites and their modification has been an important tool in anthropologic and paleontologic research, but has been compromised by limited ability to recognise sites of tendinous attachments. We investigated bone-tendon…
Recognition of syphilis in Europe in the late 15th century and its prior absence suggest New World origin. Skeletal populations were examined from sites with documented Columbian contact in the Dominican Republic. Examination of 536 skeletal remains…
Population data are presented for erosive arthritis, osteoarthritis, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), joint eburnation and dental injury in a fauna from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, represented by over thirty thousand bones from…
Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD), a form of crystalline arthritis, has a unique distribution in the Early to Middle Archaic Periods (3000 to 8000 years before the present) of North America, contrasting with the generalized geographic…
The hypothesis of disease-related large mammal extinction has new support. A unique pathologic zone of resorption was first noticed in a Hiscock Mammut americanum metacarpal. The pathognomonic zone of resorption was present in fifty-nine (52%) of 113…
Hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) is manifested by the accretion of bone on the inner table of the frontal bone. Despite the vast literature on HFI, ambiguity exists as to its etiology, osteogenesis, demography, and history. This stimulated the…
The opportunity to examine the defleshed skeleton of an individual diagnosed in life (Hamann-Todd collection, individual 2036) afforded a unique opportunity to demonstrate the bone damage characteristic of at least one form of juvenile rheumatoid…
Spondyloarthropathy was observed in 25 (2.8%) of 895 preserved canid museum specimens and was catalogued by species. The associated skeletal alterations in canids are indistinguishable grossly and physiologically from those in humans with…
As the arboreal ape, Pongo, has an unusual ground ambulation adaptation, it was of interest to assess the impact of Pongo gait on patterns of arthritis. While osteoarthritis was not identified in Pongo, 11% of individual skeletons were afflicted with…
Recognition of sacroiliac disease has been integral to arthritis diagnostic approaches. However, intra- and inter-observer variation have been recognized as limiting factors in radiologic assessment of the sacroiliac joint. The assumption that such…
Assessment of laboratory values is an important function of nursing practice. Rheumatologic laboratory assessment, in particular, can be complex because few findings are actually pathognomonic. This article provides a perspective on an interpretive…
OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to assess osseous contributions to osteoarthritis, obviating the analysis challenges presented by confounding factors in humans and rarity of osteoarthritis in free-ranging mammals. METHODS: Frequency of…
Alterations of vertebral endplates have long been a subject of interest, but are of unclear clinical significance. The vertebral columns of a cohort-based sample of 850 individuals were therefore evaluated for vertebral endplate defects, noting…
Background: Musculoskeletal complaints represent the second most common reason for visits to a physician, second only to the common cold. The limited capability of medical. treatment for musculoskeletal disease requires modification of communication…
Recognition of cancer in extreme antiquity has been limited to osteomas in mosasaurs and haemangiomas and growths of unclear origin in dinosaurs. We describe a metastatic cancer in a dinosaur.
OBJECTIVE: Definition of the nature of calcaneal "erosions" in sickle cell anemia. METHODS: Skeletons of individuals demonstrated to have had sickle cell anemia were examined for the presence of calcaneal surface discontinuity. RESULTS: Calcaneal and…
Recognition of decompression syndrome-related pathology (in the form of avascular necrosis) reveals diving behaviour in mosasaurs. Macroscopic and radiologic examination was performed to identify linear bone death characteristic of avascular necrosis…
In order to assess the presence of tuberculosis in Pleistocene bison and the origin of tuberculosis in North America, 2 separate DNA extractions were performed by 2 separate laboratories on samples from the metacarpal of an extinct long-horned bison…
Tracing the evolution of ancient diseases depends on the availability and accessibility of suitable biomarkers in archaeological specimens. DNA is potentially information-rich but it depends on a favourable environment for preservation. In the case…
The etiology of arthritis in Hyaenidae has been a subject of conjecture. While osteoarthritis has been considered, the observation of an erosive arthritis prompted a systematic survey of museum specimens to define its nature and frequency.…
Perspectives are in the eye of the beholder and are expanded with increased scrutiny (e.g., magnification). The term porosity' for macroscopically or radiologically identifiable discontinuity in bone is so variably applied as to be incomprehensible…
Documentation of the treponemal etiology of reactive bone formation in a pleistocene bear supports unprecedented antiquity of treponemal bone infections. The spectrum and implications of osseous treponemal disease in the New and Old World are…
