Kelley M A
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1982 Nov;59(3):271-9. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590306.
Skeletal collections are often useful for determining the frequency and distribution of lesions that would otherwise go unnoticed in the living. This study examines a rather common spinal lesion for which there is little clinical or paleopathologic literature available. In such cases, the anterior aspect of the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebral plates display crescent-shaped lesions suggestive of a form of degeneration known as intervertebral osteochondrosis. A total of 2,628 skeletons from three early American Indian sites and one 20th-century medical-school cadaver population are examined for this lesion. Variables such as age, sex, weight, race, activity patterns, and other biocultural information are considered in relation to the frequency of this lesion. It is suggested that physical stress during the second and third decades of life is largely responsible for this condition. With advancing age the lesions are obliterated and, in effect, become indistinguishable from spondylosis deformans. Familiarity with this condition is necessary in order to better understand degenerative spinal disease and avoid confusion with other spinal diseases such as tuberculosis.
骨骼标本对于确定那些在活人身上容易被忽视的病变的频率和分布情况常常很有用。本研究调查了一种相当常见的脊柱病变，而关于这种病变，临床或古病理学文献几乎没有。在这类病例中，下胸椎和腰椎椎体板的前部呈现出新月形病变，提示一种名为椎间盘骨软骨病的退变形式。总共检查了来自三个早期美洲印第安人遗址的2628具骨骼以及一个20世纪医学院尸体样本中的这一病变情况。研究考虑了年龄、性别、体重、种族、活动模式以及其他生物文化信息等变量与该病变频率的关系。研究表明，生命第二个和第三个十年期间的身体压力在很大程度上导致了这种情况。随着年龄增长，这些病变会消失，实际上变得与变形性脊柱炎难以区分。为了更好地理解退行性脊柱疾病并避免与其他脊柱疾病（如结核病）混淆，熟悉这种情况很有必要。
