A possible case of Gigantism and/or Acromegaly in a 15th-17th century woman from Đurine ćelije, Serbia (original) (raw)
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The Roman giant”: overgrowth syndrome in skeletal remains from the Imperial Age
A very tall skeleton was found during archaeological excavations in the territory of Fidenae, an administrative centre of the Roman territorial organization, situated along the Via Salaria about 7 km north of Rome (Italy). The individual was a young male, dated back to the Imperial Age (3 rd century AD), presenting a very tall but normally proportioned stature, estimated around 202 cm. The long bones showed incomplete epiphyseal union; therefore, the stature would probably have been taller, if he had lived longer. In this work, the metric data are compared with those from the Roman Imperial Age population, and differential diagnosis is discussed.
The Roman giant: overgrowth syndrome in skeletal remains from Imperial Age
A very tall skeleton was found during archaeological excavations in the territory of Fidenae, an administrative centre of the Roman territorial organization, situated along the Via Salaria about 7 km north of Rome (Italy). The individual was a young male, dated back to the Imperial Age (3 rd century AD), presenting a very tall but normally proportioned stature, estimated around 202 cm. The long bones showed incomplete epiphyseal union; therefore, the stature would probably have been taller, if he had lived longer. In this work, the metric data are compared with those from the Roman Imperial Age population, and differential diagnosis is discussed.
Pituitary gigantism is a rare endocrine disorder caused by hypersecretion of growth hormone during growing period. Individuals with this disorder have an enormous growth in height and associated degenerative changes. The continued hypersecretion of growth hormone during adulthood leads to acromegaly, a condition related to the disproportionate bone growth of the skull, hands and feet. The skeletal remains studied belong to a young adult male from the Jewish necropolis of “Ronda Sur” in Lucena (Córdoba, Spain, VIII–XII centuries CE). The individual shows a very large and thick neurocranium, pronounced supraorbital ridges, an extremely prominent occipital protuberance, and an extremely large and massive mandible. Additional pathologies include enlargement of the vertebral bodies with degenerative changes, thickened ribs, and a slight increased length of the diaphysis with an increased cortical bone thickness of lower limbs. Comparative metric analysis of the mandible with other individuals from the same population and a contemporary Mediterranean population shows a trend toward acromegalic morphology. This case is an important contribution in paleopathological literature because it is a rare condition that has not been widely documented in ancient skeletal remains.
https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3155 The skeletal dysplasias are a group of more than 450 heritable disorders that affect bone and cartilage, along with muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Achondroplasia is one of the most common skeletal dysplasias in both current and past populations. It can be transmitted intergenerationally, or it can result from a mutation. This paper aims to describe the lesions visible on the skeleton of a 30-45 year old male with achondroplasia, who lived during the 9th-11th centuries AD (medieval period) in Łekno, Poland. The Łekno settlement complex (Site 3) includes a cemetery with approximately 400 burials of monks and local lay people. Macroscopic examination facilitated a differential diagnosis that identified a probable case of achondroplastic dwarfism, combined with Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis and ulnar hemimelia. This is
Skeletal dysplasia of an adult male from medieval Łekno in Poland, Central Europe
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2022
The skeletal dysplasias are a group of more than 450 heritable disorders that affect bone and cartilage, along with muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Achondroplasia is one of the most common skeletal dysplasias in both current and past populations. It can be transmitted intergenerationally, or it can result from a mutation. This paper aims to describe the lesions visible on the skeleton of a 30–45 year old male with achondroplasia, who lived during the 9th–11th centuries AD (medieval period) in Łekno, Poland. The Łekno settlement complex (Site 3) includes a cemetery with approximately 400 burials of monks and local lay people. Macroscopic examination facilitated a differential diagnosis that identified a probable case of achondroplastic dwarfism, combined with Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis and ulnar hemimelia. This is the first case of dwarfism in the bioarchaeological literature that had been documented and visualized using 3D modelings, which were used to show quantitative differences in articular surface areas between the achondroplastic individual and contemporaries of normal stature. Ulnar hemimelia is most commonly seen today as a component of skeletal dysplasias. The right ulna of this male was significantly shorter than the right radius and the left ulna. It is probable that he had multiple skeletal dysplasia (achondroplasia, Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis) as well as ulnar hemimelia as a component of achondroplasia. The combination of these disorders has not been previously reported in the bioarchaeological literature, and this individual is also the first case of achondroplasia and Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis from the medieval period in Central Europe. As such, this example is used here to provide insights on a variety of different diseases, syndromes, and conditions in Polish medieval populations and that will help in future identification of rare diseases from archaeological sites.
In this study, we investigated the remains of an individual that were recovered during cleansing work of the Church of St Hripsime. Macroscopic and X-Ray inspections yielded pathological criteria which indicated osteomalacic origin. The findings of the study suggest that the individual who lived in the Late Medieval period may have gone through multiple episodes of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency as an effect of deficient exposure to sunlight (in particular, in rural individuals who lived in underground houses) and nourishment deficiency could be described as the main causes leading to osteomalacia in Armenia.
This paper describes the frequency and anatomical abnormalities and pathologies identified on the skeletal sample discovered in 2014, in the Aroneanu Monastery Necropolis of Iaşi (Iaşi County, Romania). According to archaeological information, the necropolis was used since the first half of the 16 th century until the beginning of the 19 th century. The osteological material, consisting of 79 skeletons (children, adolescents, adults, matures and seniles), originated from inhumation tombs and reburials. The distribution by sex and age categories indicates a higher male frequency as opposed to females, resulting in a higher masculinity index. Most skeletons were recorded in the maturus category (59.49%), followed by infans I and II (21.52%), adultus (11.39%), senilis (5.06%) and juvenis (2.53%). The abnormalities and pathologies were evaluated both separately, by sex, and for the entire sample. In the cranial segment (for the entire sample), the Wormian bones recorded the highest frequency (15.18%), followed by the metopic suture (3.79%), cranial trauma, cribra orbitalia (with equal incidence-2.53%) and porotic hyperostosis (1.26%). In the postcranial segment, osteoarthritis is the most frequent (11.39%), followed by spina bifida occulta, sacralization and extra facets on the tibiotalar joint-with equal incidence (3.79%). Lower incidences were recorded for the supratrochlear foramen of the humerus and lumbarization (1.26% each). In the male series, the frequency of pathologies and abnormalities is higher compared to the female series. No pathologies and abnormalities were observed on the skeletons of children and adolescents.
Bone deformities and skeletal malformations in the Roman Imperial Age
This paper describes some cases of individuals affected by skeletal deformities resulting in "freak" appearance. The skeletal remains were found during large archaeological excavations in the Roman territory, carried out by the Special Superintendence to the Archeological Heritage of Rome in the last years, dated back to the Imperial Age. The first cases reported are referred to two growth disorders with opposite effects: a case of dwarfism and another of gigantism. The former concerns a young man from the Collatina necropolis with very short and malformed limbs, which allowed a diagnosis of acondroplasic dwarfism, a rare congenital disorder that limits height below 130 cm. The latter case comes from the necropolis of Torre Serpentana in Fidenae, and is instead referred to a young person of very high stature, about 204 cm, suffering from Gigantism, a rare condition which in this case seems to have been linked to a hormonal dysfunction due to a pituitary adenoma. A third case regards a joint disease affecting the vertebral column and causing severe deformities. The skeleton was found in the Collatina necropolis and belongs to an old woman, suffering from ankylosing spondylitis. Finally, the last and very peculiar case is related to an individual recovered in the necropolis of Castel Malnome. The skeletal remains belong to an adult man with a complete fusion of the temporo-mandibular joint, which compromised
Dwarfism in Imperial Rome: a case of skeletal evidence
The palaeopathological study of skeletal human remains may contribute to extend the knowledge about ancient diseases and their impact on society. Literary sources about many pathological conditions are scarce, but in some cases they are improved by iconographic representations of diseases in paintings and sculptures from the ancient world in Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. In the same way, the anthropological description and medical diagnosis of pathological skeletons found during archaeological excavations witness the presence of diseases.
This paper presents the prevalence and study of abnormalities in a skeletal series exhumed from the necropolis of the former Princely Court of Iaşi City (Iași County, Romania). The necropolis, discovered in 2008 and dated in the 17th century, consists of 111 human skeletons (adolescents, adults, mature and senile) found in 60 inhumation tombs (individual and collective). The distribution on age and sex categories reveals a high prevalence of adult males. The frequency of abnormalities was estimated both separately on sexes and for the entire osteological series. In the cranial segment, wormian bones have a rate of 27.47%, metopic suture has 7.69%, whereas hypodontia is present in only 2.22% of the cases. As regards the postcranial segment, the lumbarization has the highest incidence (15.38%), followed by sacralization (13.18%) and spina bifida occulta (6.59%). Other abnormalities have sporadic occurrences.