A Study of Skeletal Remains with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) from the Edo Period, Japan

Abstract

General hyperostotic diathesis diagnosed as diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) was found in an almost complete skeleton from the Edo period (1603-1867 A.D.) and is described here from a paleopathological view point. A remarkable ossification was found in the thoracolumbar spines, partly forming an ankylosis between Th-12 and L-1 by exuberant osteophytes with “dripping wax” and/or “candle flame” appearance. In the extraspinal skeleton, abnormal hyperostoses were found at muscle and ligament attachments in both axial and peripheral skeletons. These abnormal ossifications occur in various diseases including spondylosis deformans (SD), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), ankylosing spinal hyperostosis (ASH), and DISH, all of which are discussed in this article from the viewpoint of historical concept of diseases and differential diagnosis. © 1993, The Anthropological Society of Nippon. All rights reserved.