TITLE:
Palaeopathology and Differential Diagnosis—A Probable Case of Secondary Infection (Tell Masaikh, Syria)
AUTHORS:
Jacek Tomczyk, Hanna Mańkowska-Pliszka, G. Michael Taylor, Ron Pinhasi, Maciej Jakuciński
KEYWORDS:
Palaeopathology; Syria; Tuberculosis; Infection
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
28,
2013
ABSTRACT: Palaeopathology integrates
knowledge and methods from physical anthropology and medicine. It aims to
obtain information concerning the type of pathological conditions, their
antiquity, palaeoepidemiology and etiology in past populations. However,
practice shows that despite the use of new techniques, it is often difficult or
impossible to make a correct differential diagnosis of diseases based on the
study of archaeological skeletal series. Here we present a case study of
differential diagnosis of pathological conditions which have been observed on
the bones of the skeleton of a 30 - 34 years old female from Tell Masaikh (Syria). Morphological,
histological, radiological and molecular methods have been applied in order to
assess the pathological lesions. The molecular analysis shows no evidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis although this
should be regarded as absence of evidence and not evidence of absence. Subsequently
our diagnosis was narrowed to traumatic changes related to infection. This
illustrates the complications associated with differential diagnosis of
pathological conditions from ancient bones.