High-resolution three-dimensional micro-computed tomography assessment of micro-architectural patterns in non-adults...

Skeletal porous lesions such as cribra orbitalia (CO) have long been of interest to bioanthropologists worldwide, mainly due to their high prevalence in osteological material. Previous studies considered CO as an external morphological manifestation, and therefore, research has mainly focused on visible (macroscopic) CO patterns. However, the understanding of CO-induced micro-scale bone changes is still scarce. Therefore, we performed high-resolution micro-computed tomography imaging to investigate three-dimensional CO-induced micro-architectural patterns in non-adults, with a particular focus on the correlation between macroscopic and micro-architectural orbital features. Cortical and trabecular micro-architectural changes in the orbital roof were analyzed in non-adults younger than 15 years, using orbital roof samples with and without macroscopic traces of CO (n = 28). A widely accepted five-grade macroscopic CO scoring system was applied to analyze CO severity. Areas affected with CO (area 1) and areas without macroscopic CO traces (area 2) were analyzed separately. The conducted high-resolution analysis showed that cortical and trabecular micro-architecture varied with CO presence, lesion severity (CO grade), and the analyzed area. Inter-grade comparisons suggested that most of the analyzed micro-architectural parameters were not significantly different between adjacent CO grades. Based on the micro-architectural evaluation of areas 1 and 2, the porous lesions were much more extensive than revealed by gross examination. In addition, micro-architectural differences were particularly pronounced in younger non-adults. In summary, our pilot study suggests that the macroscopic examination of CO reflects only the tip of the iceberg, as the micro-architectural changes seem to be much larger than macroscopically identified. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cribra orbitalia (CO) represents orbital porous lesions. A high-resolution microscopic assessment of CO-induced changes in non-adults was done by micro-computed tomography. The microarchitecture was affected by CO presence, CO grade, area, and age.