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Paleopathology Case 05 A mummy bundle with the skeleton of a 45-year-old female from 800 AD was salvaged near Arica, Chile. At autopsy, nine bones had gross evidence of pathology: the skull, the right and left innominate, the right femur, sacrum, the eighth thoracic vertebra, the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae, and the sternum. The skull had three lesions of the parietal bones near the sagittal suture. The largest was a lytic lesion that began in the diploe and perforated the inner and outer tables equally, leaving a ragged opening 35x30 mm. To the right of this opening was a nonperforating lesion 17x16 mm and to the left a smaller nonperforating lesion 15x15 mm. The nonperforating lesions were seen as a roughening and incipient crumbling of the outer table. Radiographically, the nonperforating lesions were considered to be sclerotic lesions. There was a third non-perforating lesion about 10x10 mm in the central portion of the occipital bone. Both innominate bones were extensively involved in the disease, seen in second image. The right femur had a lytic lesion at the proximal end which involved the neck. There were three lesions of the vertebrae. The entire eighth thoracic body was destroyed. The fourth and fifth lumbar each showed a small incipient lesion in the body. There was a small lytic lesion in the sternum at the level of costal notch II. Diagnosis ? | Return to Table of Contents
Updated February 23, 2006
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