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The diagnosis of pituitary disease from human skeletal remains
Author(s) -
Hawkins Desmond
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/oa.1390020108
Subject(s) - sella turcica , acromegaly , skull , pituitary disease , medicine , paleopathology , radiological weapon , hydrocephalus , anatomy , radiology , pathology , growth hormone , hormone
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the radiological criteria once widely used when investigating pituitary disease in the living can be applied to early man. The material examined forms part of the assemblage of skulls in the Duckworth Collection in Cambridge. It proved possible to measure the sella turcica from the radiographs of 88 of 155 predynastic adult Egyptian skulls with an intact base. These were compared with the measurements from 41 of 76 adult Burmese skulls of more recent origin and those of a randomly selected sample of living Caucasian adults. There was a wide range of sellar volumes in all three groups. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. Opportunities to apply the results of this study have been limited to the assessment of sellar erosion in a predynastic Badarian, review of the diagnosis of acromegaly in a, presumed, early Egyptian and the investigation of a hydrocephalic skull. The radiological examination of human skeletal remains thought to show evidence of pituitary disease or hydrocephalus can make palaeopathological diagnoses more secure.