Estimation of the onset of bone atrophy

Disturbances of bone growth were investigated in the skeletal remains of two individuals. These two--unrelated--mature males possessed limbs with marked atrophy as a result of immobilization, while the non-affected limbs showed a massive hyper-robusticity of the bones. The atrophied bones were investigated metrically and histologically. We assessed the time of onset, the duration and the extent of the immobilization. Both males suffered from paralysis, whereby one was apparently paralyzed from the pelvis down, the other had both lower extremities and the right arm affected. It appears that the onset occurred during the juvenile period.