{"title":"Prevalence and distribution of ossification of the ligamenta flava in a 16th–18th century skeletal population sample from Poland","authors":"Kamil Mrożek , Justyna Marchewka , Beata Borowska , Alicja Budnik","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.06.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study aimed to determine the prevalence of the ossification of the ligamenta flava (OLF) among skeletal remains from Poland.</p></div><div><h3>Materials and methods</h3><p><span>124 skeletons aged 25 years and older were analyzed. The presence and size of OLF were observed macroscopically. OLF was recorded at the cranial and caudal attachment sites of each </span>vertebra<span>. The following factors were analyzed: age at death, sex, and presence of other spondyloarthropathies.</span></p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p><span>The crude prevalence of OLF in the analyzed series was 68.55 %. OLF was located most frequently in the lower thoracic spine. A statistically significant relationship was observed between the presence of OLF and age at death. OLF coincided with degenerative spondyloarthropathies of the </span>thoracolumbar spine.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The results of this study indicate that OLF was not a rare condition in past populations of European ancestry. Analysis of OLF prevalence in skeletal materials can contribute to reconstruction of the conditions and lifestyles of past people.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This study shed new light on the prevalence of OLF and provides information on the variability of OLF in past European populations. The evaluation of the prevalence of OLF represents an important contribution to the field of paleopathology in understanding disease changes in prehistoric and historic human populations.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>The analyzed material came from unknown populations without demographic data. Sex and age at death were assessed using standard anthropological methods.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>It is important to understand the influence of sociocultural factors<span> and physical activity patterns on the development of OLF.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"42 ","pages":"Pages 1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Paleopathology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000347","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of the ossification of the ligamenta flava (OLF) among skeletal remains from Poland.
Materials and methods
124 skeletons aged 25 years and older were analyzed. The presence and size of OLF were observed macroscopically. OLF was recorded at the cranial and caudal attachment sites of each vertebra. The following factors were analyzed: age at death, sex, and presence of other spondyloarthropathies.
Results
The crude prevalence of OLF in the analyzed series was 68.55 %. OLF was located most frequently in the lower thoracic spine. A statistically significant relationship was observed between the presence of OLF and age at death. OLF coincided with degenerative spondyloarthropathies of the thoracolumbar spine.
Conclusions
The results of this study indicate that OLF was not a rare condition in past populations of European ancestry. Analysis of OLF prevalence in skeletal materials can contribute to reconstruction of the conditions and lifestyles of past people.
Significance
This study shed new light on the prevalence of OLF and provides information on the variability of OLF in past European populations. The evaluation of the prevalence of OLF represents an important contribution to the field of paleopathology in understanding disease changes in prehistoric and historic human populations.
Limitations
The analyzed material came from unknown populations without demographic data. Sex and age at death were assessed using standard anthropological methods.
Suggestions for further research
It is important to understand the influence of sociocultural factors and physical activity patterns on the development of OLF.
期刊介绍:
Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.