Paleopathologic diagnosis based on experimental mummification.
The difficulties of diagnosis of pathologic conditions are immensely magnified when the subject of a postmortem examination has been postmortem for several hundreds to thousands of years. Artefacts of decomposition and bacterial and fungal invasion are compounded upon those of rehydration when mummi...
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| Language: | English |
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1979
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| Online Access: | http://ezproxy.villanova.edu/login?url=https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:179485 |
| Summary: | The difficulties of diagnosis of pathologic conditions are
immensely magnified when the subject of a postmortem examination has been
postmortem for several hundreds to thousands of years. Artefacts of decomposition
and bacterial and fungal invasion are compounded upon those of rehydration
when mummified tissue is examined. As an approach to these problems, a
study of the changes seen in experimentally mummified and rehydrated tissues
was undertaken. Normal and pathologic tissues were studied in comparison to
sections prepared from the fresh tissue.
The experimentally mummified tissues were generally similar to, but somewhat
better preserved than, actual human mummies. There was organ and tissue
specific variability in preservation, and different classes of pathology likewise
showed differential preservation. Inflammatory reactions were not very
well-preserved although infecting microorganisms were easily identified. Degenerative
processes such as atherosclerosis and others characterized by the
accumulation of abnormal products, were well preserved, while necrosis, as in
acute myocardial infarction, was not. Malignancies were particularly well
preserved. The implications of these findings for previous and future mummy
studies is discussed in terms of our understanding of the evolution of disease
processes. |
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