Frequency and co ‐occurrence of porous skeletal lesions in identified non‐adults from Portugal (19th‐20th cent.) and its association with respiratory infections as cause of death

AbstractPorous skeletal lesions (PSL) have been reported in scientific literature since the 19th century, yet their etiology (ies) remains a complex issue under debate. The aim of this study is twofold: evaluate the frequency, co-occurrence, and association of PSL with biological sex and age at death; and examine possible relationships between the presence/absence of PSL with the known cause of death (COD). Fifty-six non-adult skeletons from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (19th-20th cent.) were evaluated. Lesion presence/absence was recorded macroscopically without previous knowledge of the biographic data. Forty-nine individuals (87.5%) presented at least one type of PSL and cribra femoralis was the most frequent (n=39), followed by orbitalia (n=26), humeralis (n=15), and cranii (n=6). Porous skeletal lesions affected males and females equally and younger individuals presented a significantly higher frequency of cribra femoralis. Even without statistical significance, the co-occurrence of cribra orbitalia, humeralis, and femoralis was common, as described in the “cribrous syndrome” where it is advocated a shared etiology for these lesions, based on macroscopic, microscopic, and radiological features. Individuals with a COD as respiratory infection, particularly pulmonary tuberculosis, exhibited a higher risk of expressing cribra orbitalia. The results o f this investigation suggest an influence of age and infectious diseases in the expression of PSL, impactin...
Source: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology - Category: Science Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research