Accessory foot bones in a Portuguese identified skeletal collection

Area of Science:

• Anatomy
• Bioarchaeology
• Forensic Anthropology

Background:

• Accessory foot bones are anatomical variations with implications for medicine and bioarchaeology.
• Studies on skeletal collections enhance understanding of their prevalence, size, shape, and laterality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the prevalence of six accessory foot bones in the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (CISC).
• To investigate potential sex differences in accessory bone occurrence.
• To document laterality and co-occurrence patterns of these anatomical variations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of dry bone samples from 486 individuals in the CISC.
• Assessment of six specific accessory foot bones: os trigonum, calcaneus secundarium, accessory navicular bone, os vesalianum, os sustentaculum, and os intermetatarseum.
• Statistical evaluation of prevalence, sex distribution, laterality, and co-occurrence.

Main Results:

• Os trigonum (9.9%) and calcaneus secundarium (6.0%) were the most frequent accessory bones.
• Os sustentaculum (0.4%) was the least common.
• No significant sex differences were observed; most bones occurred unilaterally, except the accessory navicular bone (bilateral).
• Co-occurrence was noted in 1.7% of individuals, primarily os trigonum and calcaneus secundarium.

Conclusions:

• Skeletal collection studies are vital for understanding foot bone anatomical variations.
• This knowledge is crucial for clinical diagnoses, treatment, and establishing bioarchaeological/forensic standards.
• Prevalence data on accessory foot bones like os trigonum and calcaneus secundarium inform diverse scientific fields.