Prevalence of degenerative joint disease changes in individuals from the Identified Skeletal Collection from the University of Coimbra (Portugal)

MARIO A. ARRIETA; ANA LUISA SANTOS

Arica

Congreso; VII Reunión de la Asociación de Paleopatología en Sudamérica; 2017

Paleopathology Association-Universidad de Tarapacá

The deterioration of the bone and cartilage of the joints is commonly called osteoarthrosis. Considered the most common degenerative disease, its aetiology/pathogenesis is not fully understood, both in clinical and paleopathology literature. This work aims to explore the prevalence of lesions related to degenerative joint diseases in younger ages. From the Identified Skeletal Collection, housed at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), 154 males and females, with age at death grouped in decades (25-34, 35-44, 45-54), were selected. The observations were completed without any knowledge of biographic data of the individuals. The following joints were analyzed: shoulder, elbow, wrist, hands, hip, knee, ankle, and feet. Marginal lipping (marginal osteophytes), porosity, surface osteophytes and eburnation were recorded from the articular surfaces of the bones involved in these joints. The results obtained were grouped as ?absent?, ?barely discernible? (grades 0-1), ?obvious? (grades 2-3) (adapted from Zampetti et al. (2016)). In terms of laterality, the only group with statistically significant differences (p