Micro-CT evaluation of historical human skulls presenting signs of syphilitic infection

Fraberger, Sabine; Dockner, Martin; Winter, Eduard; Pretterklieber, Michael L.; Weber, Gerhard; Teschler-Nicola, Maria; Pietschmann, Péter

doi:10.1007/s00508-021-01832-z

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…One of the fundamental principles of osteoimmunology is, that inflammatory reactions stimulate bone resorption. This is highlighted by infectious diseases such as tuberculosis or syphilis [24,25] and by autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (see above). Although these diseases were recognized by physicians already in the 19 th century, the first report on the mechanism, how inflammation leads to bone degradation only appeared in the early 1970s.…”

Section: History Of Osteoclasts and The Role Of Cytokines In Bone Resorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and History of Osteoimmunology

et al. 2021

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This narrative review focuses on the evolution and history of osteoimmunology, which is a research field that investigates the interactions between bone and components of the immune system. Looking at the evolution of bone, bone development dates back approximately 540 million years. Osteoimmune aspects can also be found in different bone-related diseases like osteoporosis, which is a frequent age-related disease and was first recognized in 1751. Moreover, rheumatoid arthritis is known as the prototype of an osteoimmune disease, which was first clinically described in 1800. A further important component of this field are osteoclasts, a term that was coined by Kölliker in 1873. For the treatment of osteoporosis different therapeutic options are available, among which 2 antibodies (denosumab and romosozumab) were currently approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2010 and 2019, respectively, thus showing the importance of osteoimmunological research for patients’ sake.

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Section: History Of Osteoclasts and The Role Of Cytokines In Bone Resorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and History of Osteoimmunology

et al. 2021

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“…assessed the microarchitecture of human skulls presenting signs of tertiary syphilis; although a different skeletal site than in this study was investigated, several alterations of the cortical compartment were similar (e.g. cortical thinning, cortical porosis, osteolysis [ 42 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microarchitecture of historic bone samples with tuberculosis

Vekszler

Granner

Nebot

et al. 2022

Wien Klin Wochenschr

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SummaryTuberculosis is among the leading causes of death from infectious diseases and affects many organ systems, including the skeleton. Skeletal tuberculosis is an extrapulmonary stage of tuberculosis, which occurs after the early and post-primary pulmonary stages of the disease. The aim of our study was to assess the microarchitecture of historic dry bone samples of subjects who have died of tuberculosis documented by post-mortem examinations. These preparations date to the pre-antibiotic era, and were provided by the Pathological-Anatomical Collection in the “Fools Tower” of the Natural History Museum Vienna (PASiN-NHM).We investigated macerated samples of 20 vertebral bodies, 19 femoral heads, and 20 tibiae of a total of 59 individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. 10 femora and 10 tibiae from body donors that did not exhibit signs of infection and 10 (unaffected) vertebrae kept at the PASiN-NHM were studied as controls. The affected regions of the bone samples (and the corresponding regions of the control bones) were analyzed by microcomputed tomography using a Viscom X 8060 II system. Obtained images were analyzed semi-quantitatively. In samples with tuberculosis, independent of the investigated skeletal region, trabecular defects and decreased trabecular thickness were observed. Cortical porosity was seen in affected vertebrae and tibia; in tuberculous tibiae (but not in the femora) cortical thickness was decreased. In half of the individuals, cortical sclerosis was present; signs of ankylosis were observed mainly at the femoral heads affected with tuberculosis. We conclude that a combination of several alterations at the trabecular compartment could be suggestive of the presence of tuberculosis in historic skeletal remains.

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“…Similar to clinical CT examinations, the captured individual images are converted into a voxel-based 3D volume using the appropriate device software, which can be further processed or exported as an image series. With specialized software it is possible, in addition to the overall representation as a volume model, to segment individual tissue components and intraosseous structures manually or using AI algorithms and to reconstruct them as surface or volume models [8,9,10].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of radiology in provenance research - experiences from the collaboration between radiology and anatomy at the University of Rostock and future perspectives

Steinhagen,

Brinker,

Kolbe

et al. 2024

Rofo

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Worldwide, the study and examination of human remains and the circumstances of their acquisition for anatomical collection have received great interest. As part of provenance research projects, a large number of collections are being investigated to determine whether the human remains have been acquired in a correct or unlawful way because the people could have been killed in order to be used as “anthropological objects” for research purposes and to become so-called “specimens”. These topics have also been addressed by the Institute of Anatomy at the University Medical Center Rostock. The role of radiology in this interdisciplinary project will be presented using selected examples.The anatomical collection at the University of Rostock includes 40 human skulls, 14 plaster casts, 6 Egyptian mummy heads, and 1 full-body mummy. In addition to the examination by a historian, an anthropologist, and forensic pathologists, additional computed tomography was carried out on nine skulls and the full-body mummy. Micro-computed tomography was also carried out on seven skulls in order to enable a look behind the mummification material and tissue remains.(Micro-)computed tomography was able to close diagnostic gaps and the results presented some rather unexpected findings.Due to interdisciplinary collaboration, individual fates could be determined, which provided information about the individual’s life and death circumstances. None of the examined individuals showed evidence of colonial-era injustice or the use of violence that would have led to their inclusion in the collection. (Micro-)computed tomography was a valuable addition to this provenance research project.

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Micro-CT evaluation of historical human skulls presenting signs of syphilitic infection

Cited by 6 publications

References 29 publications

Evolution and History of Osteoimmunology

Evolution and History of Osteoimmunology

Microarchitecture of historic bone samples with tuberculosis

The role of radiology in provenance research - experiences from the collaboration between radiology and anatomy at the University of Rostock and future perspectives

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