Keith Manchester

Dorsal tarsal exostoses in leprosy: A palaeopathological and radiological study

Abstract A hypertrophic bone lesion of the dorsal surface of the tarsal bones in leprosy is described. The lesion was first identified in osteoarchaeological material and subsequently recognized in clinical X-radiographs. It is considered to be a sequel of abnormal mechanical stress at the intertarsal joints, resulting from the muscle paralysis of motor neurone involvement in the disease.

Grooving of the proximal phalanx in leprosy: A palaeopathological and radiological study

A grooved lesion with hypertrophic cortical reaction of the volar surface of the distal end of the proximal phalanges of the hand is described associated with claw-hand in leprosy. Clinical and palaeopathological examples are illustrated. From the observation of the lesion in osteoarchaeological specimens, it is possible to reconstruct a deformity in the leprosy sufferer in antiquity.

Secondary cancer in an Anglo-Saxon female

Abstract A mature/elderly female skeleton from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles, Kent, is described. A diagnosis of Pagets disease of the left tibia is made. The macroscopic radiological features of perforating and non-perforating osteolytic lesions in the cranium and femora are described. The differential diagnosis is discussed. The lesions are considered to be due to metastatic carcinoma, possibly from a primary carcinoma of the breast. There is a brief resume of other recorded examples of metastatic carcinoma in early skeletons.

A leprous skeleton of the 7th century from Eccles, Kent, and the present evidence of leprosy in early Britain

Abstract A male skeleton of 7th century date from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles, Kent, is described. Certain skeletal changes associated with leprosy are manifest. The disease is discussed in its palaeopathological context and this case in relation to the few other cases of the disease hitherto diagnosed in Great Britain.

The Palaeopathology of leprosy in Britain: A review

Abstract The history of leprosy is briefly outlined. First recorded is an Indian source of the sixth century BC and a Chinese text of the third century. The earliest recorded skeletal evidence comes from the Dakhleh Oasis dating to the second century BC. By the fifth century AD the disease had reached Britain and rose to a peak between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. By the sixteenth century it had declined rapidly. Questions of early diagnosis and treatment are considered.

A medieval sculpture of leprosy in the Cistercian Abbaye de Cadouin.

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Margaret Clitherow: Skeletal identification of an historical figure?

This paper describes the use of physical anthropological methods of analysis in attempting to identify an historical figure in England. The historical background to the examination is detailed and reasons for the belief that the skeletal remains excavated from the site were those of a named person, Margaret Clitherow, are discussed. Analysis of age, sex and manner of death indicated that the remains were not those of Margaret Clitherow.

The Melton Mowbray "leper head": an historical and medical investigation.

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Digitised Diseases: Seeing Beyond the Specimen to Understand Disease and Disability in the Past

Digitised Diseases is a major web-based 3D resource of chronic disease conditions that manifest change to the human skeleton. The resource was established through funds from Jisc, the University of Bradford and Bradford Visualisation. The multi-disciplinary team, involving project partners MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, undertook a programme of mass digitisation of pathological type specimens from world-renowned archaeological, historic and medical collections at the University of Bradford, in London and York. We continue to augment this resource through ingestion of new content. The resource was always envisaged as needing to appeal to a diverse user community, having impact not just among academic and clinical beneficiaries, but also enriching the wider understanding of public health in the past. From the outset, our focus was on making sure that the digitised palaeopathological exemplars were represented and understood within a broader clinical context. We wanted to emphasise the impact of living with disease and disability in an era before modern therapies were available, and the significance of the health-related care provision that would have been required at a societal level in view of the longevity of many of these conditions.