Cooper P D, Stewart J H, McCormick W F
Department of Anthropology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1988 Dec;9(4):342-7. doi: 10.1097/00000433-198812000-00016.
Bony defects (foramina) in the sternum were found in 6.7% of a large contemporary autopsy population. Usually solitary and located in the body of the sternum, these defects rarely occur multiply and in the manubrium. They have been found in children as young as 8 years as well as in persons of advanced age. Multiple mesosternal foramina and a manubrial foramen are described here for the first time. Sternal foramina form along lines of fusion of multiple centers of ossification and are the result of incomplete fusion. They have been misinterpreted as acquired lesions, usually gunshot wounds.
在当代大量尸检人群中，6.7%的人胸骨存在骨缺损（孔）。这些缺损通常为单发，位于胸骨体，很少多发且位于胸骨柄。在年仅8岁的儿童以及老年人中都发现过此类缺损。本文首次描述了多发性胸骨体孔和胸骨柄孔。胸骨孔沿着多个骨化中心的融合线形成，是融合不完全的结果。它们曾被误诊为后天性病变，通常是枪伤。
