Rhonda R. Bathurst

1
Hyperpulmonary Osteoarthropathy A Canine
Bioarchaeological Case Study

• Context
• Proto-historic Neutral Iroquois village, ca. AD
  154090 (2). Limited evidence of historic
  artifacts uncovered at the site.
• Bundle burial found articulated and
  enmeshed within a pot (2)
• Terrier-size domestic dog. Mature male (14),
  less than two years old (most but not all teeth
  were worn 15)
• Case first documented (without graphics) by
  Burns (2) at which time the diagnosis of canine
  HPOA was confirmed by Dr. T. Hullard, Dean of
  Ontario Veterinary College
• Only other known documentation of canine HPOA
  is from a pre-contact, Late Woodland occupation
  (ca. AD 500-1000) from the Hickory Bend Site,
  Alabama (4)

• Objective
• This poster visually documents a specific
  skeletal pathology, diagnosed in an
  archaeological dog burial from the early historic
  period in the American northeast
• Documentation of this condition is rare, though
  this may be due to a lack of familiarity with the
  distinguishing characteristics of the disease
• Therefore, this case study illustrates the
  distinguishing characteristics of HPOA, which has
  a similar appearance in both dogs and humans (3)
• HPOA is non-infectious, though the primary
  conditions which can cause the disease may be.
  Possible primary infections and their importance
  to human populations are considered

• Definition
• Canine hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy
  (HPOA)
• A progressive, symmetric and bilateral
  periosteal reaction (7, 9, 13) secondary to
  chronic lung conditions. Frequently terminal in
  dogs without treatment
• Primarily involves the distal portions of
  radius, ulna, tibia, fibula, metacarpals and
  metatarsals (7, 12) - those sites associated with
  membranous or tendonous attachments

Cleveland
Skull, dorsal view
Right mandible, medial
Phalanges
Skull, lateral view
Cleveland Site (AhHb-7). Northeast of Brantford,
Ontario
Tibia partial fused fibula
Left mandible, lateral
Calcaneus metatarsals
Scapula
Vertebrae, thoracic and lumbar
left
Marked changes due to HPOA are not usually noted
on the skull, vertebral column, ribs or sternum
(7).
III
Radius
II
Ulna
Forelimb x-ray (17)
left
right
Right calcaneus tarsus
Left metacarpals
right, caudal
left, cranial
Humerus
Femur
V
IV
Note comparative lack of periosteal reaction on
tarsus
left
II
V
III
IV
left
right
right

• Significance Palaeopathology
• Unlike many non-specific paleopathological
  conditions, HPOA is a specific pathological
  syndrome
• Bilateral periosteal proliferation appears
  similar in humans, and may result in the flesh
  expression of digital clubbing
• Clubbed fingers were first documented by
  Hippocrates ca. 450 BC (10, 11), and may indicate
  the antiquity of the condition
• HPOA has been documented in 2 human burials
  from Mesoamerica (in Ticoman, 2000 BC-AD100
  Jaina, AD 300-900) (10)

• Significance Humans
• The condition in dogs is secondary to chronic
  lung conditions such as tuberculosis, malignant
  thoracic tumors and broncho-pneumonia (1, 5, 7)
• Primary infections such as tuberculosis are
  zoonotic (transmissible between dogs and humans)
  (5, 6)
• Dogs and humans share environmental conditions
  that may cause primary infections such as
  bronchitis or lung tumors (ie. wood smoke,
  tobacco) (1)
• Therefore, evidence of HPOA in dogs may be
  indicative of the presence of such infectious or
  causative agents within the associated human
  community
• Conditions such as tuberculosis, cyanotic heart
  disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer and liver
  cirrhosis can trigger secondary HPOA in humans
  (10, 11)
• Future epidemiological studies may benefit to
  be aware of the relationship between primary
  zoonotic diseases and secondary HPOA

right, cranial
right, cranial
left, caudal

• Significance Zooarchaeology
• This case documents a specific pathological
  condition known to affect domestic dogs
• The antiquity of the disease pre-dates European
  contact in America (though this case study may
  not)
• The extent to which the condition had
  proliferated and the rough, un-remodeled state of
  the lesions are likely indications of cause of
  death (a mortality indicator)
• HPOA would have required a considerable amount
  of time to be established on the skeleton to such
  a degree (7). Movement would have been awkward
  and painful, making the condition obvious in the
  living dog
• The context of the discrete bundle-burial in
  association with the chronic illness of the dog
  may suggest a certain degree of human nurturing
  or symbolic significance associated with this
  individual animal

left, caudal
Rhonda R. Bathurst McMaster University
HPO digital clubbing University of Bristol,
Faculty of Medicine, 2001