Objective: The skeletal remains of a short-statured individual (T17) are described and a differential diagnosis performed to determine the etiology of the condition.
Materials: An individual considered pathologically short in stature was discovered in the burial site of Piazza XX Settembre, Modena (northern Italy).
Methods: Morphological and morphometric analyses were performed, and T17 was compared to dwarfs from other localities and periods and to the adult female population from the same site. A paleopathological survey was undertaken to assess the degree of the skeletal elements of T17 were affected.
Results: T17 was a female, 20-30 years of age at death, with a stature of 128 cm and disproportionate dwarfism associated with congenital skeletal dysplasia.
Conclusions: T17 likely affected by a form of hypochondroplasia.
Significance: Anatomical consequences of hypochondroplasia are presented, and the timeframe and associated burial goods suggest a 6th-century Lombard short stature belonging to one of the earliest Lombard settlements in Italy.
Suggestions for further research: Future genetic analysis would resolve if the mutation in the type 3 fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR3) is present in the remains of T17; however, it is not exclusivly linked to hypochondroplasia.
Keywords: Achondroplasia; Dwarfism; Hypochondroplasia; Skeletal dysplasia.
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