Stafne's defects in two mandibles from archaeological sites in Croatia

Abstract

Salivary gland inclusions in the mandible are relatively uncommon in recent as well as archaeological populations. This condition is well known to oral surgeons, but less so to anthropologists, osteologists and skeletal biologists. At present a limited number of reports pertaining to this condition in ancient populations are available in anthropological and palaeopathological literature, although scattered reports of cases in recent populations are found in dental journals. This paper analyses the prevalence of Stafne's bone defect in a large composite Croatian archaeological series (n ¼ 4250 mandibles), and reports on two cases in which computerised tomography was performed, in order to draw the attention of anthropologists, osteologists and skeletal biologists to this condition when faced with differential diagnosis of odontogenic lesions, cysts and neoplasms in the area of the angle of the mandible.

Stafne's Defects in a Sample of Adult Thai Mandibles in the Khon Kaen University Osteology Collection, Thailand

“…Given the worldwide attention and relatively common frequency of Stafne's defects encountered during routine radiographic patient examinations, combined with the difficulty of detecting early‐stage defects radiologically, it is important to explore these defects in dry‐bone mandibles to establish more accurate frequencies (Suvarnbhesay, ; Vodanovic et al , ). Additionally, the types of information available and the ability of researchers to recognize early‐stage (e.g., shallow) defects in dry‐bone specimens furthers our knowledge and frequencies of Stafne's defects, bone remodeling and bone biomechanics.…”

“…Given the worldwide attention and relatively common frequency of Stafne's defects encountered during routine radiographic patient examinations, combined with the difficulty of detecting early-stage defects radiologically, it is important to explore these defects in dry-bone mandibles to establish more accurate frequencies (Suvarnbhesay, 2005;Vodanovic et al, 2011).…”

“…The reported frequencies of posterior Stafne's defects in archaeological and museum dry‐bone studies vary from 0.05% in a large medieval sample from Croatia (Vodanovic et al ., )to 1.07% in 5519 mandibles from Hungary (Finnegan & Marcsik, ), to as high as 3.32% in a prehistoric sample from the Canary Islands (Lukacs & Martin, ). Clinical studies, in comparison, reveal frequencies ranging from 0.3% of 4963 male veterans in New York City (Karmiol & Walsh, )to 0.25% of 9718 Japanese patients (Ehara et al ., ), to 0.48% of 2693 patients at the Veterans Administration in Long Beach, California (Correll et al ., ).…”

Study of stafne's defects in Late Neolithic, Late Roman, Medieval and Modern skeletal samples from Portugal

“…Sometimes, the anomaly is bilateral (Shafer et al ., 1983; Queiroz et al ., 2004; Soames & Southam, 2005). The defects are of varying depth and usually vary from 1 to 3 cm in diameter (radiographically), with the widest portion being parallel to the inferior border of the mandible (Whaites, 2007; Vodanović et al ., 2009). An extremely large lesion, reaching up to 9 cm, was reported only once (Buchner et al ., 1991).…”

“…Since 1942, Stafne's defects have often been reported in clinical literature (Karmiol & Walsh, 1968; Correll et al ., 1980; Sandy & Williams, 1981; Hayashi et al ., 1984; Apruzzese & Longoni, 1999; Katz et al ., 2001; de Courten et al ., 2002; Philipsen et al ., 2002; Drage et al ., 2003; Quesada‐Gómez et al ., 2006; Araújo et al ., 2009; Dolanmaz et al ., 2009), but much fewer papers have reported on these defects in archaeological contexts (Harvey & Noble, 1968; Finnegan & Marcsik, 1980; Graham, 1980; Mann, 1990; Mann & Tsaknis, 1991; Mann & Shields, 1992; Shields, 2000; Lukacs & Rodríguez Martín, 2002; Masnicová & Beňuš, 2003; Jordana et al ., 2007; Vodanović et al ., 2009).…”