A Case of Brachymetatarsia From Medieval Sardinia (Italy)

ABSTRACT Archaeological excavations carried out in the Medieval village of Geridu (Sardinia) uncovered several burials dating to the late 13th or the first half of 14th century. Among these individuals, the skeleton of an adult female showing a bilateral abnormal shortness of the fourth metatarsal b...

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Published in:Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) N.J. : 2007), 2014-04, Vol.297 (4), p.650-652
Main Authors: Giuffra, Valentina, Bianucci, Raffaella, Milanese, Marco, Tognotti, Eugenia, Montella, Andrea, Caramella, Davide, Fornaciari, Gino, Bandiera, Pasquale
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Archaeology - history
congenital diseases
Female
History, Medieval
Humans
Italy
Metatarsal Bones - abnormalities
Metatarsal Bones - diagnostic imaging
Middle Ages
Osteoarthritis - diagnostic imaging
Osteoarthritis - pathology
Radiography
Sardinia
shortened fourth metatarsal bone
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Summary:ABSTRACT Archaeological excavations carried out in the Medieval village of Geridu (Sardinia) uncovered several burials dating to the late 13th or the first half of 14th century. Among these individuals, the skeleton of an adult female showing a bilateral abnormal shortness of the fourth metatarsal bone was identified. Bilaterality and absence of other skeletal anomalies allow to rule out an acquired aetiology of the disease and to support a diagnosis of congenital brachymetatarsia. Such a rare deformity has a clinical incidence of 0.02% to 0.05%, with strong predominance of the female gender. To our knowledge, no other cases of brachymetatarsia have been reported in paleopathology so far. Anat Rec, 297:650–652, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:1932-8486
1932-8494
DOI:10.1002/ar.22883