Cribra orbitalia is correlated with the meningo‐orbital foramen and is vascular and developmental in nature

Abstract

Cribra orbitalia is a phenomenon with interdisciplinary interest. However, the etiology of cribra orbitalia remains unclear. Recently, the appearance of cribra orbitalia was identified as vascular in nature. This study assessed the relationship between anatomical variation of vasculature, as determined by the presence of meningo‐orbital foramina, and the presence of cribra orbitalia in 178 orbits. Cribra orbitalia was identified in 27.5% (49:178) of orbits (22.7%, 35:154 adult orbits and 58.3%, 14:24 subadult orbits) and meningo‐orbital foramina were identified in 65.8% (100:152) of orbits. Among the 150 total intact adult orbits (i.e., orbital roof and posterior orbits both intact), cribra orbitalia was found in 35 (23.3%). Of these 35 occurrences of cribra orbitalia, 32 (91.4%) had the concurrent finding of a meningo‐orbital foramen. However, in the absence of the meningo‐orbital foramen, cribra orbitalia was only found in three sides out of the total sample of intact orbits (3:150; 2.0%). Fisher's exact test revealed that the presence of cribra orbitalia and the meningo‐orbital foramen were statistically dependent variables (p = .0002). Visual evidence corroborated statistical findings—vascular impressions joined cribra orbitalia to meningo‐orbital foramina. This study identifies that individuals who possess a meningo‐orbital foramen are anatomically predisposed to developing cribra orbitalia. Conversely, cribra orbitalia is unlikely to occur in an individual who does not possess a meningo‐orbital foramen. Thus, the antecedent of cribra orbitalia is both vascular and developmental in nature. This report represents an important advancement in the understanding of cribra orbitalia—there is an anatomical predisposition to the development of cribra orbitalia.

The Black Death in Hereford, England: A demographic analysis of the Cathedral 14th‐century plague mass graves and associated parish cemetery

“…However, the condition can be mimicked by taphonomic bone surface erosion during decomposition (Wapler et al, 2004). Some have also proposed that CO may be a normal anatomical variant (Cole & Waldron, 2019; Zdilla et al, 2022). The presence of CO was recorded as per the guidelines from Rinaldo et al (2019).…”

Using portable X‐ray fluorescence elemental analysis to explore porous skeletal lesions: Interplay of sex, age at death, and cause of death

“…For instance, some authors have moved away from a hypothesis of anemic origin for cribra associated with marrow expansion. It was proposed that cribra orbitalia corresponds to a non-pathological phenomenon resulting from vascular imprint (Rothschild, 2021a(Rothschild, , 2021bRothschild et al, 2021;Rothschild et al, 2022;Rothschild et al, 2023;Zdilla et al, 2022). Other hypotheses have considered an inflammatory response (Brickley et al, 2020;Cole & Waldron, 2019;Saint-Martin et al, 2015;Wapler et al, 2004), impaired mineralization (Brickley et al, 2020), or taphonomic effects (Saint-Martin et al, 2015;Wapler et al, 2004).…”