Imaging of ancient Egyptian mummies’ temporal bones with digital volume tomography

Abstract

The radiographic imaging of ancient Egyptian mummies has always been of great interest. Computed tomography is the method of choice to demonstrate bony pathologies with high quality. As digital volume tomography (DVT) is an extension of panoramic tomography with a very high resolution, its qualities were evaluated by examination of temporal bones of Egyptian mummy skulls. Ten Egyptian mummy skulls from the Zoological Collection Marburg, estimated 1,700-5,000 years of age, from Abydos, Philae, Theben-West and Sakkarah, were examined by DVT (3D Accuitomo, Morita, Japan). Through a rotation 360° of the X-ray source around the region of interest, a cylinder of 3 × 4 cm was captured as a three-dimensional volume. The gained data were analyzed with the help of special software on a PC. The angles of the axial, coronal and sagittal sections were arbitrarily changed to represent single structures with high resolution of 0.125 mm to analyze specific anatomical structures. In all skulls, conditions of the temporal bone and its anatomical structures were evaluated and normal as well as pathological findings evaluated in detail. The analysis of special landmarks such as the ossicular chain, cochlea, external, and internal auditory canal, facial nerve canal, and semicircular canals showed an intact ossicular chain in six temporal bones, while only isolated and dislocated ossicles were found in eight temporal bones. Besides one dehiscence of the superior semicircular canal in one temporal bone which might have led to vertigo and deafness at lifetime, all other findings were normal. Fragments of foreign bodies additionally found in the labyrinth, external ear canal and intracranially were attributed to postmortem damage. Digital volume tomography extends the imaging possibilities of CT for paleoradiological evaluation of temporal bones. With its high resolution, geometric accuracy, reconstruction capabilities, rapidness, and comparably low costs, even small bony pathologies are precisely demonstrated in a limited area. Investigations of larger numbers of specimen might reveal further details of ancient history for further interdisciplinary investigation of anthropologists, Egyptiologists, otolaryngologists, and radiologists.

New model of superior semicircular canal dehiscence with reversible diagnostic findings characteristic of patients with the disorder

“…While it was nearly a century ago that Tullio described the physiologic outcomes of creating a third mobile window in the semicircular canals of pigeons (1,2), it was a quarter century ago that Minor et al first described superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) in two patients (3). However, this is not a new clinical entity as SSCD has been observed after CT imaging of Egyptian mummy heads (4). Since 1998, many locations of third mobile windows have been described [for review see (5)(6)(7)].…”

Discover the anatomy of the mummies: how imaging techniques contribute to understanding disease in the past

“…Finally, general consensus has been expressed in favor of using three-dimensional visualization in mummy studies. It is also worth mentioning that 14 records evaluated the presence of skeletal diseases (Jackowski et al, 2008;Panzer et al, 2010;Dalchow et al, 2012;Schamall et al, 2012;Schmidt et al, 2013;Saleem and Hawass, 2014;Fritsch et al, 2015;Márquez et al, 2015Márquez et al, , 2015Piombino-Mascali et al, 2015;Villa et al, 2015;Traversari et al, 2016;Beckett et al, 2020;Yatsishina et al, 2020;Öhrström et al, 2021), although some of them were heavily criticized (Beckett et al, 2020, Bianucci et al, 2021a, Bianucci et al, 2021b, Bianucci et al, 2021c. Of note, the majority of the records categorized in this subtheme, described and evaluated common and uncommon bone pathologies while Fritch and coworkers described severe rotator cuff arthropathy and rotator cuff impingement (Fritsch et al, 2015).…”