A possible case of paralysis in early modern Vilnius and the implications for social care

Abstract

Objective: To present a case of possible paralysis from early modern Vilnius and to discuss the potential level of care that was provided in the society of that time.

Materials: A partially disturbed skeleton of a young female from a 16th-17th century Orthodox Christian cemetery.

Methods: Macroscopic, osteometric and X-ray examinations coupled with a literature review aimed at providing a differential diagnosis.

Results: The skeletal remains showed signs of disuse atrophy most probably due to a neurological disorder acquired in the woman's late teens. Differentials suggest that the observed limb atrophy was most likely a consequence of poliomyelitis.

Conclusions: The case of a young female with paralysis presented in this paper could serve as an example of care provided by her household.

Significance: This study substantially contributes to further understanding of the nature and quality of care provided to disabled individuals in their households even in the absence of written sources.

Limitations: There is a degree of diagnostic ambiguity due to the application of routine clinical criteria to paleopathological cases.

Suggestions for further research: The article makes several recommendations for future research, e.g., systematic investigation of possible cases of bone atrophy in a broader sociocultural context, as well as searching for evidence of gastrointestinal infections, especially poliomyelitis, supplemented by the application of biomolecular technologies.

Keywords: Bioarcheology; Bone atrophy; Disability; Early modern Lithuania; Poliomyelitis.