The effect of age on entheseal changes at some fibrocartilaginous entheses

Abstract

In 2009 during the “Workshop in musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM): limitations and achievements in the reconstruction of past activity patterns” held in Coimbra, Portugal, a working group was established to review the various methodologies used to record entheseal changes (EC); and develop a standardized system to facilitate comparisons across studies. A new qualitative method was developed by the working group for fibrocartilaginous entheses. The effects of age on the features scored using this method are presented. The sample included male skeletons (n=31) from the identified SIMON collection, Geneva, Switzerland. All individuals were manual workers (age-at-death range 23-73 years). Five entheses were scored on an ordinal scale for bone formation (BF) and erosion (ER) of the margin, for BF, ER, FPO (fine porosity), and MPO (macroporosity) of the enthesis surface. The results indicate that age effects vary by the type of change and the muscle enthesis scored. These results demonstrate that age effects EC, but that, using this recording method, some EC are more closely associated with age.