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'Račanská M, Vargová L, Vymazalová K, Dzetkuličová V, Horáčková L, 2022: Tarsal coalition in skeletal remains of past Czech populations. Anthropologie (Brno) 60, 2: 253-263'. |
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| Abstract | | The objective of our study is to estimate the frequency and types of the tarsal coalition in the populations of the Czech Lands, where this type of data is still missing. Examined skeletal collections belong to seven different sites and periods (from the Early Bronze Age through the Migration Period and Middle Ages until the 20th century). Tarsal coalition is hereditary abnormal bridging between two tarsal bones (mainly talus, calcaneus, and navicular) which would normally be separate bones. The bridging is caused by a type of connective tissue. Gross macroscopic analysis and comparison with clinical and archaeological literature were used to detect the signs of tarsal coalition. In some cases, the analysis was combined with the radiographic examination. A total of 267 individuals from the following locations were observed: Mikulovice, Kolín, Praha-Zličín, Sady-Špitálky, Trutmanice, Znojmo, and skeletons of recent cadavers from the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno. Another 212 isolated tarsal bones from Brno ossuary material (dated to the 13th–18th century and currently deposited in the Department of Anatomy) were also studied. We estimated that the frequency of tarsal coalition (when individuals from all seven studied archaeological collections were pooled) was 5.6 %. The tarsal coalition frequencies for individual collections ranged between 2.3 % – 10.3 %. If the ossuary material was included in the total tarsal coalition frequency calculations (the number of individuals from the ossuary material was calculated as the minimum number of individuals), the tarsal coalition frequency was 6.1 %. In most of the cases, the calcaneonavicular coalition was detected. The findings may expand our overall understanding of tarsal coalition and stimulate further clinical research when looking for a causal link between tarsal coalition and orthopaedic diseases, such as painful, rigid flatfoot (fibular spastic flatfoot, tarsal synostosis, or dysostosis), and their possible secondary complications (intra-articular trauma, infection, arthropathy, osteonecrosis, neoplasm). | | | | Keywords | | Tarsal coalition – Tarsal bones – Palaeopathology – Archaeological skeletal remains – Czech Lands | | | | DOI | | https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.22.03.21.1 | | |
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