Fracturas do fémur proximal em duas colecções osteológicas identificadas portuguesas

As fracturas conhecidas por «fracturas osteoporóticas» ocorrem normalmente após um trauma moderado em locais esqueléticos ricos em osso trabecular, como a extremidade proximal do fémur (anca), a extremidade distal do rádio (fracturas de Colles) e as vértebras. Conquanto as fracturas sejam muito comuns em paleopatologia, a maioria remete para um evento traumático e não para a fragilidade intrínseca ao próprio osso. A literatura paleopatológica é escassa relativamente a fracturas cujo vector primordial seja a perda de massa óssea ligada ao envelhecimento. As descrições de fracturas da anca, principalmente, são incomuns. Não obstante, a literatura sobre este tipo de fractura em contextos arqueológicos tem aumentado nos últimos anos, demonstrando a sua inequívoca existência em populações do passado. As fracturas da anca foram estudadas em duas colecções esqueléticas identificadas portuguesas (Coimbra e Lisboa). A sua prevalência foi comparada e confrontada com indicadores demográficos, socioeconómicos e antropológicos

Osteoporosis and paleopathology: a review

Osteoporosis is a complex and heterogeneous disorder, of multi-factor aetiology. It is the most frequent metabolic bone disorder, affecting an increasing number of post-menopausal women and aging individuals from both sexes. Although first recognized more than 250 years ago, the clinical and epidemiological knowledge about osteoporosis is largely limited to the last 70 years. Within the conceptual frames of paleopathology, disease is necessarily perceived in a space without depth (the skeleton) and of coincidence without development (the crucial moment of death) -but is also interpreted in a time interval which adds an historical gaze to its "biography". The study of osteoporosis in past populations (which faced sociocultural conditions utterly different from the genus vitae experienced by modern communities) supplements diachronic depth to the knowledge about bone modifications related to age, menopausal status or lifestyle. This article aims to provide a comprehensive record on the history of osteoporosis and fragility fractures as perceived by the biomedical, historical and, particularly, paleopathological sciences. As such, the main focus of this review is to present an exhaustive and historical-framed exposition of the studies of osteoporosis, bone loss and associated fractures within the field of paleopathology and, to a lesser extent, in the history of medicine. A biomedical-oriented synopsis of the main operational definitions, etiological agents and epidemiological features of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures is also provided

Rib fractures in the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection

There is a high prevalence of rib fractures in human remains from archeological contexts, but these are seldom the focus in paleopathological studies pertaining skeletal trauma. This study aims to document rib fracture patterns in the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra. Specific aims of this study included the estimation of rib fracture prevalence in 252 individuals, from both sexes (females: 128; males: 124), with age-at-death varying from 20 to 96 years; and the analysis of the relationship between rib fractures and age-at-death, biological sex, and bone mineral density measured at the proximal femur. The crude prevalence of rib fractures is 6.3% (16 cases in a total of 252 individuals observed); while the true prevalence rate is 0.7% (38 fractured ribs in relation to 5656 ribs studied). Males have been more affected than females (males: 10.5%, 13/124; females: 2.3%, 3/128). Individuals with one or more rib fractures were significantly older (mean=66.19 years old; standard deviation [SD]=14.08) than those who have not experienced any rib fracture (mean=50.41 years old; SD=19.45). Bone mineral density was also associated with the presence of rib fractures but only in females. These results expand the scientific awareness about the prevalence of rib fractures in human skeletal collections.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Femoral cortical bone in a Portuguese reference skeletal collection

This study aims to investigate patterns of femoral cortical bone fragility with age (at death) and to evaluate its associations with sex and bone mineral density. Radiogrammetric parameters of the femur and bone mineral density at the proximal femur were assessed in an adult sample (N=98) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (Portugal). Diaphysis total width (DTW), femoral cortical index (FEMCI) and bone mineral density (BMD) are significantly higher in males, while medullary width (MW) is not statistically different between sexes. Cortical bone parameters of the femoral diaphysis are associated with age only in women, whereas BMD decreases with age in both sexes. The evaluation of femoral cortical bone reveals sex-specific trajectories of endosteal bone loss and periosteal apposition, stemming from sexual differences in the rate and pattern of bone loss, and in bone size. In females, endocortical bone loss rises with age, particularly in peri- and postmenopausal years, decelerating later in life. Concomitantly, accretion of bone in the subperiosteal surface persists throughout adulthood - partially offsetting bone fragility in women. Strength in the femoral mid diaphysis appears to be pre served throughout most of the life course in both sexes.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [SFRH/BPD/74015/2010

Extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly male from Setúbal (Portugal)

Poster presented at the BABAO Conference 2017: 19th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. 8-10 September 2017, LiverpoolHip fractures were certainly present in past communities, if not reasonably frequent. Often an outcome of osteoporosis and increased risk of falling among the elderly, these fractures affect predominantly older women but also aged men. In this case-study, an extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly man is described and contextualized.N/

The Identification Potential of Atherosclerotic Calcifications in the Context of Forensic Anthropology

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that, in its more developed stages, can lead to the calcification of fatty plaques on the walls of arteries, resulting in the appearance of new bone elements. It is a condition that has been studied and documented little in the context of paleopathology, especially in the framework of forensic anthropology. This article analyzed the skeletal remains of 71 individuals (35 females and 36 males) from the Luís Lopes Identified Collection of the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon, 31 of whom had an autopsy report. An attempt was made to ascertain whether these bone elements resulting from atherosclerotic calcification would resist cadaveric decomposition and whether they would be recoverable several years after burial, and a survey was carried out of their distribution according to sex and age, as well as their association with other pathologies, such as osteoporosis and cardiac and renal pathologies. An imaging analysis of an atherosclerotic plaque was also carried out to complement the macroscopic analysis and present other methods of identifying plaques. It was concluded that each atherosclerotic calcification has a unique profile, which can be useful for identification, especially in cases where the individual shows a severe condition. In terms of identification potential, the analysis of calcified atherosclerotic plaques can be useful, as they can corroborate or reject an identification. However, it always requires the existence of ante-mortem imaging exams and must always be used in addition to other identification methods. Regardless of the identification, these plaques are bone elements resulting from a pathology and should, therefore, be known and recognized by the scientific community.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uma questão de método: a idade gestacional do feto do Paleolítico Superior de Ostuni (Itália)

A análise de três dentes decíduos de restos fetais do enterramento de Ostuni I (Itália, circa 27.000 anos BP) através de histologia virtual permitiu refinar a estimativa da sua idade gestacional, que varia entre as 31 e as 33 semanas. Face aos resultados obtidos anteriormente a partir do comprimento da diáfise dos ossos longos – entre as 34 e as 36 semanas – os autores do estudo consideraram que a estimativa da idade gestacional em fetos pré-históricos não deverá fundamentar-se em referências modernas. Neste trabalho, estimou-se a idade gestacional do feto de Ostuni a partir de modelos de regressão produzidos numa amostra moderna de referência, obtendo-se um intervalo compreendido entre as 31,2 e as 33,6 semanas, bastante similar ao intervalo reportado por Nava et al.ABSTRACT - The analysis of three deciduous teeth from the Ostuni I fetus (Italy, circa 27,000 years BP) through virtual histology sanctioned the refinement of fetal gestational age, currently established between 31 and 33 weeks. Challenging previous results obtained from the diaphyses of long bones – between 34 and 36 weeks – the authors of the study considered that the estimation of gestational age in pre-historical fetuses should not be grounded in modern reference standards. In this work, gestational age of the Ostuni fetus was estimated from regression models developed in a modern reference sample; a gestational age of 31.2 – 33.6 weeks was obtained, a very similar interval to that reported by Nava et al.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

"Unassumable Responsibility": Watching Mike Parr

This ‘paper’ is a short personal piece of writing—an interior monologue really—about “being there” at Mike Parr’s "Punch Holes in the Body Politic" at Artspace in Sydney. I wrote this initially at the time and have added to it some what for this occasion but my aim was to record my contradictory experience—thoughts, puzzlings—of attending this show, which of course (as it turned out) was based on ethically compromising the spectator if at all possible by almost forcing them to hurt Mike. I had sent students along and had tried to prepare them as far as I could, but I did not know in detail until after my own experience just what it was that Mike Parr had prepared and indeed even then how much of that which was prepared didn't seem to work, at least as intended. This phenomenon in itself offers distinctive spectatorial challenges. Perhaps Mike’s ideal spectator isn’t an ethical one. I have tried in this writing to record my own process of trying to separate the accidental from the essential, the puzzling but maybe significant from the fuck-ups, while trying to be both an ethical and as much as possible the interactive spectator Mike apparently wanted.The conference was sponsored by A.D.S.A., the Department of Performance Studies, the School of Letters, Arts and Media, and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Sydney

A 1000-year-old case of Klinefelter's syndrome diagnosed by integrating morphology, osteology, and genetics

We thank the Municipality of Bragança, the University of Coimbra, the University of Adelaide, the Max Planck Society, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for the support provided. ST is supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/116363/2016). BL (FT170100448) and JCT (DE210101235) are supported by the Australian Research Council. ABR is supported by the European Research Council (771234-PALEoRIDER)