Date of Award
4-1985
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Robert I. Sundick
Second Advisor
Dr. William Cremin
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
A 25 to 30 year old American aborigine male dating from A.D. 170 + 80 years exhibits bilateral osteolytic lesions of the temporal bones. A differential diagnosis was set up to determine the cause of the pathology. It was determined that the individual had probably been subject to chronic suppurative otitis media complicated by mastoiditis, cholesteatoma, and probable lateral sinus thrombosis of the right temporal bone. Otitis media then developed within the left temporal bone causing some bone destruction, although not to the extent seen in the right temporal. It is likely that a small cholesteatoma had developed or would have developed in the left temporal bone, had the individual survived longer. The ultimate cause of death is believed to be due to meningitis following dural exposure. This is a significant specimen because no earlier case of cholesteatoma in America has been reported.
Recommended Citation
Hull, Robert William, "Cholesteatoma in a Pre-Columbian American Aborigine from the Gyftakis Site, St. Ignace, Michigan" (1985). Masters Theses. 1377.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1377