Lenka Vargová

The possibilities of studying human embryos and foetuses using micro-CT: a technical note

The purpose of the study was to discover a way to study the internal structure and evolution of human embryos noninvasively. The human embryo was stained with phosphotungstic acid solution (PTA) in ethanol (EPTA) and scanned using a micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scanner. Using appropriate software, a three-dimensional image of the embryo was created, which could be further exploited. The methodology described could be used for the non-destructive examination of the internal structure of the human embryo, and the resulting data can be used as a resource for medical students, gynaecologists, and paediatricians.

A brief history of tuberculosis in the Czech Lands

Tuberculosis currently remains a serious medical problem, therefore increased attention is being paid to this disease. Paleopathological studies focused on the monitoring of morbid changes in skeletal remains of historical populations facilitate a detailed study of the development of this disease. They provide direct evidence of the existence of tuberculosis and its past forms. In addition to literary and iconographic sources, the present study is focused on recording the findings of bone tuberculosis in historical osteological sets from the Czech Lands and is the starting point for their detailed review. Approximately 76 cases of bone tuberculosis from the Czech Lands have been published and more or less reliably documented from 20 archeological sites dated back from the Eneolithic to the modern period.

A brief history of syphilis in the Czech Lands

From the end of the fifteenth century, the massive expansion of syphilis had a distinct effect on the historical development of Europe. Due to this disease, firstly the numbers of the European population were reduced; thereafter, moral and ethical principles were significantly affected and the combat readiness of armies decreased. The disease forced new legislation which was of vital importance for the development of health services. The Czech Lands, located in Central Europe, were also no exception. The material presented summarises the available information on this disease obtained from written sources and from the study of direct evidence of skeletal remains from archaeological sites of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Traces of syphilitic bone affliction have observed in almost every large early modern osteological collection to date. A number of currently documented palaeopathological findings of syphilitic changes in bones from the Czech Lands do not by a long stretch correspond to the data presented in literary sources on the mass occurrence of this disease. The submitted study aims to extend current knowledge in this area and thereby to complete a complex view of the development of syphilis in Central Europe.