Walter Pantano

A subject with abnormally short stature from Imperial Rome

In spite of the rich iconographic and literary documentation from ancient sources, the skeletal evidence concerning individuals of abnormally short stature in the Greco-Roman world is scarce. The necropolis of Viale della Serenissima/Via Basiliano in Rome, mostly referable to the II century AD, recently yielded the skeleton of an individual characterized by proportionate short stature, gracile features suggesting female gender, and delayed epiphysial closure, associated with full maturation of the permanent dentition. These characteristics could be compatible with the phenotype associated with female gonadal dysgenesis. The skeletal individual described here, although poorly preserved, represents the first evidence of a paleopathologic condition affecting skeletal growth documented for the population of ancient Rome.

Pituitary disease from the past: a rare case of gigantism in skeletal remains from the Roman Imperial Age.

verytallskeleton,foundduringarchaeologicalex-cavationsnearRome(Italy)anddatedbacktotheImperial Age (3rd century AD), was affected by pitu-itary gigantism, a rare growth disease seldom docu-mented in ancient times. This case represents the firstdescriptionofthisendocrinediseaseinacompleteskel-eton from the past.The skeleton T.30 was found in the Imperial Age ne-cropolis of Torre Serpentana (7 km north of Rome) andbelonged to a young male (age range, 16–20 yr) with avery tall but normally proportioned stature estimatedaround202cm(1).Somelongbonesandvertebralbodiesdidnotshowcompleteepiphysealunion,andthereforethestature would probably have been taller if he had livedlonger.TheaveragemaleRomanstaturewasaround167cm during the Imperial Age, and the difference with T.30is35cm(21%overtheaveragestatureofthepopulation),indicating an overgrowth syndrome (2); all the main longbone lengths are over 5

Idiopathic Infantile Bladder Lithiasis from Roman Antiquity

o s d s t n a a a a During the excavations of the Roman necropolis of Via della Serenissima (Rome, Italy, second to third century AD), a biological calcification was noted in the pelvis of 5– to 6-year-old girl (tomb 3). Characterized by a U-shape and measuring almost 3 cm long, the lithiasis had an irregular white surface (Fig. 1). Its elemental and crystallographic analysis showed the presence of ammonium urate and carbapatite, this last being classically associated with chronic urinary infections with urease-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. A diagnosis of idiopathic infantile bladder lithiasis was finally given. This disease was well known in Antiquity, first described on miraculous inscriptions in the Asclepios sanctuary of Epidauros (Greece, fourth century BC): “Euphanes, a boy of Epidaurus. Suffering from stone (lithiasis) he slept in the temple. It seemed to him that the god stood by him and asked: ‘What will you give me if I cure you?’ ‘Ten dices’ he answered. The god laughed and said to him that he would cure him. When day came, he walked out sound” (IG IV, 951). Although this epigraphic testimony is unique, some descriptions of infantile lithiasis exist in medical or surgical treatises from Antiquity. For example, in the Hippocratic collection, practitioners affirm that the origin of the disease is in the wet-nurse milk considered as nonadapted to the baby, too hot, too bilious, causing urine precipitations. Later, Galen described the same disease in babies and children as bladder stones impeaching the elimination of urine, and explained the usual treatment: “The sick children has to lye on the back, as soon as the stone signs are present, i.e., on one hand, urines resembling to water, and, on the other hand, the presence of something like sand in the urines. Concerning the little patient, if he grates frequently his phallus which can be extremely flaccid or on the contrary in

A Case of Gout from Imperial Rome (1st-2nd Century AD)

The study of pathological alterations in ancient skeletal remains may contribute to the reconstruction of the history of diseases and health conditions of ancient populations. Therefore, in recent research palaeopathology provides an important point of view in bioarchaeology and medicine. This work describes the bone alterations observed in the skeleton of an adult woman found during archaeological excavations in the greatest necropolis of the Imperial Age in Rome. The skeletal remains showed some pathological anomalies and the most evident alterations consisted of multiple osteolytic lesions involving mainly the small bones of the feet, which presented round cavitations and scarce signs of bone repair. Differential diagnosis suggests that this individual was affected by gout, probably associated with hypothyroidism that determined her short stature.