Paralysis and severe disability requiring intensive care in Neolithic Asia
Date
2009
Authors
Oxenham, Marc
Tilley, Lorna
Matsumura, H
Nguyen, Lan Cuong
Nguyen, Kim Thuy
Nguyen, Kim Dung
Domett, Kathryn M
Huffer, Damien
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Volume Title
Publisher
Istituto Italiano di Antropologia
Abstract
This communication documents one of the earliest verifiable cases of human paralysis associated with severe spinal pathology. A series of skeletal abnormalities is described for a young adult male (M9) from a Southeast Asian Neolithic community. Differential diagnosis suggests that M9 suffered from a severely disabling congenital fusion of the spine (Klippel-Feil Syndrome, Type III), resulting in child-onset lower body paralysis at a minimum (maximally quadriplegia). M9 experienced severe, most probably total, incapacitation for at least a decade prior to death. In the prehistoric context, this individual's condition would have rendered him completely dependent on others for survival.
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Keywords
Keywords: Juvenile-onset; Klippel-Feil; Quadriparesis
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Source
Journal of Anthropological Sciences
Type
Journal article
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Restricted until
2037-12-31
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