Palaeopathological diagnosis after 2500 years. The case of Imakhetkherresnet, sister of priest Iufaa.

The aim of palaeopathological studies has been traditionally the determination of a diagnosis of any found pathological change. If based merely on skeletal evidence, most of them proved to be only tentative. Our case of the mature female Imakhetkherresnet, sister of the lector-priest Iufaa, having preserved scraps of soft tissue, enabled a precise diagnosis. Her skeletized mummy was discovered in Iufaa's unmolested tomb dating late 26th Dynasty at Abusir (Egypt) by the Czech Institute of Egyptology in 2001. A large smooth-walled cavity moulded by pressure of a relatively hard, globular and lobulated tissue mass was found inside the sacrum, growing in hour-glass shape outside it. By macroscopic and radiographic examination its diagnosis was suggested, while by histological analysis with histochemical tests and comparison with a recent case, the origin of the hollow could be "clinically" determined. It was caused by a benign tumour, originating in the nerve sheath, called neurilemmoma (schwannoma, neurinoma). This kind of tumour, occurring in the sacrum relatively rarely, was never before described in the palaeopathological literature.

Case of metastatic carcinoma from end of the 8th-early 9th century Slovakia.

The first case of metastatic carcinoma ever detected in Slovakia comes from a Slavonic cemetery at Borovce, in the district of Piest'any, which is dated from the end of the 8th to the middle of the 12th century AD. The disease afflicted a 50-60-year-old male, buried in a grave from the older phase of inhumation (8th-early 9th century AD). A number of osteolytic metastases were found in all bones of the skull and postcranial skeleton except for the forearms, hands, lower legs, and feet. They were studied macroscopically by standard X-rays, and by scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Analogous finds from Central European countries were also obtained. They are discussed in relation to their chronology, which shows a tendency of increasing occurrence culminating in the Middle Ages. Some demographic and paleopathological characteristics of the burials in the Borovce cemetery are also provided.

Survey on the anthropological collection of the Finnish Nubia Expedition.

Thanks to the activity of two field anthropologists the Finnish Nubia Expedition working in the Batn el Hagar area south of the Second Cataract in Upper (Sudanese) Nubia collected human cranial and postcranial remains representing a total of 115 individuals. Two chronological series could be built up, viz. Meroitic/X-Group and Christian Period. Most of the remaining material was chronologically and partly also geographically heterogeneous and covered Mesolithic to New Kingdom times. It was tentatively put together so as to represent the old "Prae-Meroitic" Nubian stock. The material was generally too sparse and too selected to allow a demographic study. However it allowed a comparative anthropometric analysis, focusing on the Meroitic/X-Group and Christian periods. Other aspects of the physical build of the individuals studied could be reconstructed by analysis of descriptive features. The differences observed between the series could be explained by determination of the relative shares of the White and Black anthropological varieties and their blend. The ample collection of pathological findings included rare instances such as two cases of vertebral tuberculosis and one case probably representing fungal osteomyelitis. Detailed data will be published in a monograph under preparation.

[Evidence of nicotine in scalp hair of naturally mummified bodies from the Christian Sayala (Egyptian-Nubian)]. / Nachweis von Nicotin im Kopfhaar von natürlich mumifizierten Körpern aus dem christlichen Sayala (Agyptisch-Nubien).

The investigations of hair samples obtained from human skeleton from the Christian cemetery of Sayala demonstrate the presence of nicotine. 12 of 39 individual hair samples were positive. These results indicate the use of plants containing nicotine as principal or secondary alkaloid.

Paleoserology of the Christian population at Sayala (Lower Nubia): an evaluation of the reliability of the results.

A paleoserological study of human remains from the Christian cemeteries of Sayala (Lower Nubia, 6th-11th centuries A.D.) was carried out by applying two techniques (absorption-elution and haemagglutination-inhibition), on two types of substratum (bones and hair), in separate laboratories (Pisa and Prague). The aim of research was to evaluate the degree of repeatability of the results and the reliability of the final paleoserological diagnoses. The results indicated different degrees of repeatability depending on the differential sensitivity of the two techniques and on the nature of the substratum. The frequencies of concordant and discordant final diagnoses within and between the two laboratories and by the two methods were significantly different from those expected under the conditions of random distribution, indicating a consistency in results from different laboratories and methods. The reliability of the resulting gene and phenotype distributions is also supported by their consistency both with the theoretical Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and with the present distribution of the ABO gene frequencies in Egyptian, Sudanese, and Nubian populations.

A case of metastatic carcinoma from Christian Sayala (Egyptian Nubia).

The paper deals with a case of a most probable metastatic carcinoma, found in skeletal remains of a 35-45 year old female who lived in Sayala, Egyptian Nubia, during the Christian Period. The macroscopic and radiographic morphology supported by microscopic investigation by M. Schultz (Göttingen) revealed the predominating osteoclastic process in the lesions, combining with the slightly expressed osteoblastic component. Single lesions located in the skull, spine, sacrum, sternum, ribs, clavicle, scapula, radius, metacarpals and hand phalanges, ossa coxae, femur and tibia were described. Of the various differential diagnostic possibilities, the diagnosis was focused on distinction between myeloma multiplex and lytic metastatic carcinoma. The growing evidence of incidence of metastatic carcinoma, its relative frequency compared with that of myeloma multiplex, and the most probable primary source of metastases of our case--the carcinoma of the breast--were discussed.

Tumors in the remains of ancient Egyptians.

A survey of the tumors found in the remains of the Ancient Egyptians shows the occurrence of all the kinds of tumors which would be expected to be preserved in the osteological evidence. On the other hand, findings of tumors in the soft tissues of mummies are only exceptional. The frequency of tumors seems to be lower than in recent years, probably because of the shorter mean duration of life. The pathological lesions preserved in bony sturcture reveal not only osseous tumors, but also the presence of some tumors of soft tissues eroding the bone. To the survey of cases described in the literature, original findings of a calcified myoma uteri and of a probably epipharyngeal carcinoma are added. Because our knowledge on the history of tumors is not yet comprehensive, much more attention should be devoted to the search for them, starting from the moment of excavation of any cemetary.