Provider: Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic

TY  - JOUR
JO  - Anthropologie (Brno)
TI  - Osteomalacic microarchitecture exemplified by a Late Antiquity skeleton and verified by BSE-mode in a SEM
AU  - Schamall D
AU  - Teschler-Nicola M
Y1  - 2010
VL  - 48
IS  - 2
PB  - Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
SN  - 0323-1119
SP  - 163
EP  - 176
KW  - Osteomalacic bone microarchitecture
KW  - X-ray-, histological-, and SEM technique
KW  - Late Antiquity
KW  - Austria
N2  - 
N2  - Although rickets and osteomalacia have already been reported in archeological contexts and more recently have become a subject of increased interest, there are just a few of them approved by histological investigation. Here we present the results of a study carried out on the skeletal remains of a female recovered from Linz, Austria, dated to the Late Antiquity. Previous macroscopic inspection yielded pathological features which implied an osteomalacic origin. to verify this assumption we compared this specimen with a fluid-conserved historical vertebra with documented osteomalacia from the collection of the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum (PAM) in Vienna; for this purpose, non-invasive radiological and invasive histological examinations, specifically the most promising, scanning electron microscope (SEM) inspection in backscattered electron-mode (BSE-mode) was used. this approach revealed not only the reliability of the BSE-mode technique for identifying such disorders in earth-stored ancient skeletal remains, but it also demonstrated its potential for distinguishing between disturbed bone-mineralization and taphonomic changes. We further ascertained criteria conducive to differential diagnosis of osteomalacia based on trabecular configuration and mineralization status of vertebral bodies.
ER  -