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Review
. 2023 Mar 3;15(3):e35721.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.35721. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Possible Causes of Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy in the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal

Matthew D Turner  1
Affiliations
Review

Possible Causes of Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy in the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal

Matthew D Turner. Cureus. .

Abstract

For over a century, researchers have been perplexed by the unique osteological findings on La Ferrassie 1 (LF1), one of the most complete Neanderthal remains ever found. In 1997, Fennel and Trinkaus proposed that LF1 suffered from hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA), likely secondary to chronic thoracic infection or pulmonary malignancy. This disease process can have many etiologies, and no study has fully explored the possible origin of LF1's HOA. Ultimately, it is most likely that LF1's HOA etiology arose from one of the many infectious diseases that prehistoric Neanderthals were exposed to, specifically a chronic pulmonary RNA virus.

Keywords: hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy; infectious disease; la ferrassie 1; neanderthal; pulmonary malignancy; viral pneumonia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The views expressed in this study are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Madigan Army Medical Center or the U.S. Government.

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