Although congenital talipes equinovarus is the most common major musculoskeletal malformation in contemporary populations, its occurrence in archaeological specimens is rare. The deformity of untreated clubfoot in an adult American Indian male is discussed.
The authors have presented a forensic anthropology case that established positive identification by comparison of antemortem and postmortem x-rays of the legs and feet. This case illustrates one method of ascertaining the identity of a burned and skeletonized victim. By careful reconstruction and examination of the skeleton, the investigators were able to determine not only age, race, and sex, but also trauma sustained to the head and left arm at the time of death. This case highlights the importance and application of clinical radiography in a legal context.
The calcaneus secundarius is an accessory ossicle of the anterior calcaneal facet. Dry bone examination of 1,367 calcanei revealed this trait 47 times (3.4%). Familiarity with the calcaneus secondarius may prove to be of clinical and radiographic value in distinguishing pathologic from normal variants in the calcaneus.
The authors report on the skeletal elements of a minimum of 37 men who died in 1965 when their C-123 cargo airplane crashed into a mountainside in South Vietnam. Natural environmental processes reduced their bodies to skeletons; these osseous remains were recovered from the crash site nearly 10 years later. Among the remains were the calcanei and tali of at least 37 people. These bones, devoid of soft tissue, provide a rare opportunity to examine and document the pattern of perimortem fractures in multiple individuals who died in the same incident. This case also provides information on a range of variability of skeletal fractures that is unavailable in comparative skeletal collections, and that might be overlooked with radiography or during physical examination.
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