Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-16T22:46:53.226Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - The Challenging Diagnosis of Cardiovascular Disease in Skeletal Remains

Identifying Atherosclerotic Calcifications from Modern Documented Individuals

from Part III - Contemporary Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2023

Michaela Binder
Affiliation:
Novetus GmbH Archaeological Services
Charlotte A. Roberts
Affiliation:
Durham University
Daniel Antoine
Affiliation:
British Museum, London
Get access

Summary

The very high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in populations today makes their study unavoidable, necessary and of paramount importance in forensic sciences. Knowledge about pathological conditions affecting a skeletonised individual is crucial information for reconstructing the biological profile of a victim of crime and may be used in the individualisation and identification of an unknown deceased person (Cunha, 2006). In addition, a correct diagnosis of atherosclerosis in skeletal remains may provide information on the cause of death of the individual.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ababneh, B., Rejjal, L., Pokharel, Y., et al. (2014). Distribution of calcification in carotid endarterectomy tissues: comparison of micro-computed tomography imaging with histology. Vascular Medicine, 19, 343–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abboud, I. A. (2008). Mineralogy and chemistry of urinary stones: Patients from North Jordan. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 30, 445–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Armentano, N., Subirana, M., Isidro, A., Escala, O. and Malgosa, A. (2012). An ovarian teratoma of late Roman age. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2, 236–9.Google Scholar
Aufderheide, A. C. and Rodríguez-Martín, C. (1998). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Baud, C.-A. and Kramar, C. (1991). Soft tissue calcifications in paleopathology. In Ortner, D. J. and Aufderheide, A. C., eds., Human Paleopathology: Current Syntheses and Future Options. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 257–60.Google Scholar
Becker, C. R., Nikolaou, K., Muders, M., et al. (2003). Ex vivo coronary atherosclerotic plaque characterization with multi-detector-row CT. European Radiology, 13, 2094–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biehler-Gomez, L., Cappella, A., Castoldi, E., Martrille, L. and Cattaneo, C. (2018a). Survival of atherosclerotic calcifications in skeletonized material: Forensic and pathological implications. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 63, 386–94.Google Scholar
Biehler-Gomez, L., Maderna, E., Brescia, G., et al. (2018b). Distinguishing atherosclerotic calcifications in dry bone: implications for forensic identification. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 64, 839–44.Google ScholarPubMed
Biehler-Gomez, L., Maderna, E., Brescia, G., et al. (2019). ‘Aged’ autopsy gallstones simulating dry bone context: a morphological, histological and SEM-EDS analysis. International Journal of Paleopathology, 24, 60–5.Google Scholar
Binder, M. and Roberts, C. A. (2014). Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC). International Journal of Paleopathology, 6, 20–9.Google Scholar
Cattaneo, C., Mazzarelli, D., Cappella, A., et al. (2018). A modern documented Italian identified skeletal collection of 2127 skeletons: The CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection. Forensic Science International, 287, 219.e1–e5.Google Scholar
Charatsi, D. I., Kotsopoulos, I. C., Xirou, P., Valeri, R. M. and Kaplanis, K. (2015). Synchronous adenocarcinoma and echinococcosis in the same ovary: A rare clinical entity. Hippokratia, 19, 88.Google Scholar
Charlier, P., Wils, P., Froment, A. and Huynh-Charlier, I. (2014). Arterial calcifications from mummified materials: Use of micro-CT-scan for histological differential diagnosis. Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology, 10, 461–5.Google Scholar
Cunha, E. (2006). Pathology as a factor of personal identity in forensic anthropology. In Schmitt, A., Cunha, E. and Pinheiro, J., eds., Forensic Anthropology and Medicine. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, pp. 333–58.Google Scholar
Curtze, S. C., Kratz, M., Steinert, M. and Vogt, S. (2016). Step down vascular calcification analysis using state-of-the-art nanoanalysis techniques. Scientific Reports, 6, 23285.Google Scholar
Das, D. K. (2009). Psammoma body: A product of dystrophic calcification or of a biologically active process that aims at limiting the growth and spread of tumor? Diagnostic Cytopathology, 37, 534–41.Google Scholar
Decreto di Polizia Mortuaria. (1990). Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica, n. 285, 10 settembre 1990. Regolamento di Polizia Mortuaria. https://presidenza.governo.it/USRI/ufficio_studi/normativa/D.P.R.%2010%20settembre%201990,%20n.%20285.pdfGoogle Scholar
Demer, L. L. and Tintut, Y. (2008). Vascular calcification: Pathobiology of a multifaceted disease. Circulation, 117, 2938–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiMaio, V. J. M. and Francis, J. R. (2001). Heterotopic ossification in unidentified skeletal remains. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 22, 160–4.Google Scholar
Doherty, T. M., Asotra, K., Fitzpatrick, L. A., et al. (2003). Calcification in atherosclerosis: Bone biology and chronic inflammation at the arterial crossroads. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 100(20), 11201–6.Google Scholar
Falk, E. (2006). Pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 47(8 Suppl), C7C12.Google Scholar
Fayad, Z. A. and Fuster, V. (2001). Clinical imaging of the high-risk or vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque. Circulation Research, 89, 305–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaeta, R., Fornaciari, A., Izzetti, R., Caramella, D. and Giuffra, V. (2019). Severe atherosclerosis in the natural mummy of Girolamo Macchi (1648–1734), ‘major writer’ of Santa Maria della Scala Hospital in Siena (Italy). Atherosclerosis, 280, 6674.Google Scholar
Glass, C. K. and Witztum, J. L. (2001). Atherosclerosis: The road ahead. Cell, 104, 503–16.Google Scholar
Gouvêa Lima, G. de M., Moraes, R. M., Cavalcante, A. S. R., Carvalho, Y. R. and Anbinder, A. L. (2015). An isolated phlebolith on the lip: An unusual case and review of the literature. Case Reports in Pathology, 2015, 507840.Google Scholar
Jang, I.-K., Bouma, B. E., Kang, D.-H., et al. (2002). Visualization of coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients using optical coherence tomography: Comparison with intravascular ultrasound. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 39, 604–9.Google Scholar
Kim, I. S., Myung, S. J., Lee, S. S., Lee, S. K. and Kim, M. H. (2003). Classification and nomenclature of gallstones revisited. Yonsei Medical Journal, 44, 561–70.Google ScholarPubMed
Kim, M. J., Kim, Y. S., Oh, C. S., et al. (2015). Anatomical confirmation of computed tomography-based diagnosis of the atherosclerosis discovered in seventeenth century Korean mummy. PLoS One, 10, e0119474.Google Scholar
Komar, D. A. and Buikstra, J. E. (2003). Differential diagnosis of a prehistoric biological object from the Koster (Illinois) Site. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 13, 157–64.Google Scholar
Libby, P. (2003). Vascular biology of atherosclerosis: Overview and state of the art. American Journal of Cardiology, 91(3A), 3A6A.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Libby, P., Ridker, P. M. and Hansson, G. K. (2011). Progress and challenges in translating the biology of atherosclerosis. Nature, 473, 317–25.Google Scholar
Lusis, A. J. (2000). Atherosclerosis. Nature, 407, 233–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mönckeberg, J. G. (1903). Über die reine Mediaverkalkung der Extremitätenarterien und ihr Verhalten zur Arteriosklerose. Virchows Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medizin, 171, 141–67.Google Scholar
Özdemir, K., Akyol, A. A. and Erdal, Y. S. (2015). A case of ancient bladder stones from Oluz Höyük, Amasya, Turkey. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 25, 827–37.Google Scholar
Rudd, J. H. F., Narula, J., Strauss, H. W., et al. (2010). Imaging atherosclerotic plaque inflammation by fluorodeoxyglucose with positron emission tomography. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 55, 2527–35.Google Scholar
Sangiorgi, G., Rumberger, J. A., Severson, A., et al. (1998). Arterial calcification and not lumen stenosis is highly correlated with atherosclerotic plaque burden in humans: A histologic study of 723 coronary artery segments using nondecalcifying methodology. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 31, 126–33.Google Scholar
Schembri, L., Congiu, T., Tozzi, M., et al. (2008). Scanning electron microscopy examination and elemental analysis of atherosclerotic calcifications in a human carotid plaque. Circulation, 117, e479e480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shah, P. K. (2003). Mechanisms of plaque vulnerability and rupture. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 41(4 Suppl S), 15S22S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stary, H. C., Chandler, A. B., Dinsmore, R. E., et al. (1995). A definition of advanced types of atherosclerotic lesions and a histological classification of atherosclerosis. A report from the Committee on Vascular Lesions of the Council on Arteriosclerosis, American Heart Association. Circulation, 92, 1355–74.Google Scholar
Steinbock, R. T. (1990a). Studies in ancient calcified soft tissues and organic concretions. II: Urolithiasis (renal and urinary bladder stone disease). Journal of Paleopathology, 3, 3959.Google Scholar
Steinbock, R. T. (1990b). Studies in ancient calcified soft tissues and organic concretions. III: Gallstones (cholelithiasis). Journal of Paleopathology, 3, 95106.Google Scholar
Subirana-Domènech, M., Borondo-Alcázar, J. C., Armentano-Oller, N., et al. (2012). Arteriosclerosis in paleopathology: Are macroscopic findings well known? International Journal of Paleopathology, 2, 246–8.Google Scholar
Torii, S., Mustapha, J. A., Narula, J., et al. (2019). Histopathologic characterization of peripheral arteries in subjects with abundant risk factors: Correlating imaging with pathology. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Imaging, 12, 1501–13.Google ScholarPubMed
Towler, D. A. (2008). Vascular calcification: A perspective on an imminent disease epidemic. IBMS Bonekey, 5, 4158.Google Scholar
Van Engelen, A., Niessen, W. J., Klein, S., et al. (2013). Automated segmentation of atherosclerotic histology based on pattern classification. Journal of Pathology Informatics 4(Suppl), S3.Google Scholar
Virmani, R., Kolodgie, F. D., Burke, A. P., Farb, A. and Schwartz, S. M. (2000). Lessons from sudden coronary death: A comprehensive morphological classification scheme for atherosclerotic lesions. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 20, 1262–75.Google Scholar
Wexler, L., Brundage, B., Crouse, J., et al. (1996). Coronary artery calcification: Pathophysiology, epidemiology, imaging methods, and clinical implications. A statement for health professionals from the American Heart Association Writing Group. Circulation, 94(5), 1175–92.Google Scholar
Yang, W., Wong, K. and Chen, X. (2017). Intracranial atherosclerosis: From microscopy to high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Stroke, 19, 249–60.Google Scholar
Yoshida, H., Yokoyama, K., Yaginuma, T., et al. (2011). Difference in coronary artery intima and media calcification in autopsied patients with chronic kidney disease. Clinical Nephrology, 75, 17.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×