Using microscopy to improve a diagnosis: an isolated case of tuberculosis‐induced hypertrophic osteopathy in archaeological dog remains

Abstract

The use of histology to estimate age, understand taphonomic history and diagnose disease in human skeletal and mummified remains is a well-known method. Even though non-human animals experience stress and disease similar to humans, microscopy is rarely applied to faunal remains to obtain a diagnosis. Histological results from a 16 th -century Iroquoian dog which had previously been diagnosed by macroscopic and molecular methods with tuberculosis-induced hypertrophic osteopathy (HPO) are presented here. Comparisons indicate that canid microscopic skeletal manifestations of HPO are reminiscent of human alterations caused by this condition. In addition, the microscopy reveals an aggressive form of HPO that was chronic in nature which could not be identified by either macroscopic or molecular methods. By providing an extension to the original diagnosis, the impact of a chronic case of tuberculosis is discussed. This study helps to emphasise the utility of palaeohistopathology in both biological anthropology and zooarchaeology, as it allows for a deeper discussion of the manifestation of HPO and the impact of tuberculosis on both dogs and humans.

Characterization of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in an identified skeleton from Évora, Portugal, using combined and comparative morphology and microscopy

“…Most of the cases referred to above were observed in younger individuals; however, it must be remembered that this is a recent case, the individual died in 1970, and medical advances, including the use of antibiotics, could explain survival to an advanced age. Our microscopic analysis also supports diagnosis of a chronic disorder affecting the ribs, as reported by other authors (Wakely et al, 1991) and in other bones (von Hunnius, 2009). HOA can be secondarily related to a number of conditions, especially various chronic pulmonary diseases.…”

“…Remains, dated to 1000 BP, show severe periosteal bone proliferations similar to those of the present study. Lastly, archaeological remains of a domestic dog excavated at the Cleveland site, in Ontario, Canada, has remarkably similar lesions affecting the metacarpal bones (von Hunnius, 2009). …”

Characterization of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in an identified skeleton from Évora, Portugal, using combined and comparative morphology and microscopy

“…Most of the cases referred to above were observed in younger individuals; however, it must be remembered that this is a recent case, the individual died in 1970, and medical advances, including the use of antibiotics, could explain survival to an advanced age. Our microscopic analysis also supports diagnosis of a chronic disorder affecting the ribs, as reported by other authors (Wakely et al, 1991) and in other bones (von Hunnius, 2009). HOA can be secondarily related to a number of conditions, especially various chronic pulmonary diseases.…”

“…Remains, dated to 1000 BP, show severe periosteal bone proliferations similar to those of the present study. Lastly, archaeological remains of a domestic dog excavated at the Cleveland site, in Ontario, Canada, has remarkably similar lesions affecting the metacarpal bones (von Hunnius, 2009). …”

An Osteobiography of a 19th‐Century Dog from Toronto, Canada

“…The macroscopic appearance of the reactive bone formation and the similarity to previous published cases (Bathurst & Barta, ; von Hunnius, ) led the archaeologists who first recorded these bones to suggest a possible diagnosis of HO (ASI, ). Upon further scrutiny of the skeleton and relevant clinical literature, we identified an issue with this possible diagnosis as some of the symptoms do not fit with the typical presentation of the disease.…”

Morphometric Variability of Roman Dogs in Hispania Tarraconensis: The Case Study of the Vila de Madrid Necropolis

“…The small‐sized dogs of the Vila de Madrid necropolis do not present pathologies that could be classified as ‘working injuries’, such as deformities in the vertebrae, scapula and pelvis as a result of carrying loads or fractures produced by livestock kicking and trampling the dogs (MacKinnon, ). They also do not present pathologies linked with age, such as degenerative arthritis or spondylosis deformans, or fractures and infections resulting from hereditary and metabolic diseases (Hunnius, ). In that sense, the small‐sized Roman dogs from the Vila de Madrid necropolis appear to have been in good health, at least osteologically speaking, despite the fact that smaller ‘toy’ dogs in Roman times appear to have been more susceptible to multiple pathological conditions (MacKinnon, ).…”

Characterization of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in an identified skeleton from Évora, Portugal, using combined and comparative morphology and microscopy

“…Most of the cases referred to above were observed in younger individuals; however, it must be remembered that this is a recent case, the individual died in 1970, and medical advances, including the use of antibiotics, could explain survival to an advanced age. Our microscopic analysis also supports diagnosis of a chronic disorder affecting the ribs, as reported by other authors (Wakely et al, 1991) and in other bones (von Hunnius, 2009). HOA can be secondarily related to a number of conditions, especially various chronic pulmonary diseases.…”

“…Remains, dated to 1000 BP, show severe periosteal bone proliferations similar to those of the present study. Lastly, archaeological remains of a domestic dog excavated at the Cleveland site, in Ontario, Canada, has remarkably similar lesions affecting the metacarpal bones (von Hunnius, 2009). …”

An Osteobiography of a 19th‐Century Dog from Toronto, Canada

“…The macroscopic appearance of the reactive bone formation and the similarity to previous published cases (Bathurst & Barta, ; von Hunnius, ) led the archaeologists who first recorded these bones to suggest a possible diagnosis of HO (ASI, ). Upon further scrutiny of the skeleton and relevant clinical literature, we identified an issue with this possible diagnosis as some of the symptoms do not fit with the typical presentation of the disease.…”

Morphometric Variability of Roman Dogs in Hispania Tarraconensis: The Case Study of the Vila de Madrid Necropolis

“…The small‐sized dogs of the Vila de Madrid necropolis do not present pathologies that could be classified as ‘working injuries’, such as deformities in the vertebrae, scapula and pelvis as a result of carrying loads or fractures produced by livestock kicking and trampling the dogs (MacKinnon, ). They also do not present pathologies linked with age, such as degenerative arthritis or spondylosis deformans, or fractures and infections resulting from hereditary and metabolic diseases (Hunnius, ). In that sense, the small‐sized Roman dogs from the Vila de Madrid necropolis appear to have been in good health, at least osteologically speaking, despite the fact that smaller ‘toy’ dogs in Roman times appear to have been more susceptible to multiple pathological conditions (MacKinnon, ).…”

Characterization of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in an identified skeleton from Évora, Portugal, using combined and comparative morphology and microscopy

“…Most of the cases referred to above were observed in younger individuals; however, it must be remembered that this is a recent case, the individual died in 1970, and medical advances, including the use of antibiotics, could explain survival to an advanced age. Our microscopic analysis also supports diagnosis of a chronic disorder affecting the ribs, as reported by other authors (Wakely et al, 1991) and in other bones (von Hunnius, 2009). HOA can be secondarily related to a number of conditions, especially various chronic pulmonary diseases.…”

“…Remains, dated to 1000 BP, show severe periosteal bone proliferations similar to those of the present study. Lastly, archaeological remains of a domestic dog excavated at the Cleveland site, in Ontario, Canada, has remarkably similar lesions affecting the metacarpal bones (von Hunnius, 2009). …”

An Osteobiography of a 19th‐Century Dog from Toronto, Canada

“…The macroscopic appearance of the reactive bone formation and the similarity to previous published cases (Bathurst & Barta, ; von Hunnius, ) led the archaeologists who first recorded these bones to suggest a possible diagnosis of HO (ASI, ). Upon further scrutiny of the skeleton and relevant clinical literature, we identified an issue with this possible diagnosis as some of the symptoms do not fit with the typical presentation of the disease.…”

Morphometric Variability of Roman Dogs in Hispania Tarraconensis: The Case Study of the Vila de Madrid Necropolis

“…The small‐sized dogs of the Vila de Madrid necropolis do not present pathologies that could be classified as ‘working injuries’, such as deformities in the vertebrae, scapula and pelvis as a result of carrying loads or fractures produced by livestock kicking and trampling the dogs (MacKinnon, ). They also do not present pathologies linked with age, such as degenerative arthritis or spondylosis deformans, or fractures and infections resulting from hereditary and metabolic diseases (Hunnius, ). In that sense, the small‐sized Roman dogs from the Vila de Madrid necropolis appear to have been in good health, at least osteologically speaking, despite the fact that smaller ‘toy’ dogs in Roman times appear to have been more susceptible to multiple pathological conditions (MacKinnon, ).…”