Date of Award

Summer 8-16-2024

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Interdisciplinary Program

Advisor

Marcella H. Sorg

Second Committee Member

Kathleen Becker

Third Committee Member

Robert Lehnhard

Additional Committee Members

Heather Edgar

Leslie Eisenberg

Mark Flomenbaum

Abstract

There is substantial evidence demonstrating chronic, heavy intake (e.g. >5 drinks per day for men) is detrimental to human bone, often leading to osteopenia and secondary osteoporosis. A review of relevant literature from the 1950s to the present did not reveal any studies examining the impact of heavy alcohol use on the human cranium. The aim of this dissertation is to help address this research gap. One hundred and forty-four post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) scans were selected from deaths investigated by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. Deidentified PMCT scans were provided by the New Mexico Decedent Image Database. The study sample is comprised of normal-weight men, aged 21-55, with a known drinking status (low-risk or high-risk). Based on prior case observations, eight cranial sites were selected for study. Twentymillimeter bilateral segments were created on the orbital roof, lateral frontal, temporal squamous, and cerebellar fossa of the occiput. Segments were assessed for minimum thickness and radiological markers of bone quality. Results indicate that high-risk alcohol users have significantly thinner crania than lowrisk alcohol users at all sites except for the lateral frontal. Radiodensity measurements of the segments revealed areas of significantly lower and, paradoxically, higher radiodensities in highrisk alcohol users compared to low-risk alcohol users. Findings from this study have potential applications in the fields of medicolegal death investigation, forensic anthropology, and clinical medicine. Medicolegal death investigators might better understand and explain fatalities among individuals with a known history of heavy alcohol use when blunt force trauma of the head contributes to their death, leading to better documentation and public health statistics surrounding these deaths. Clinically, appreciating that a patient who exhibits high-risk alcohol use behavior may be at risk for cranial thinning and osteoporosis could afford providers with an opportunity to treat secondary cranial osteoporosis and/or do targeted head injury prevention education with this population (e.g., helmet safety and fall prevention). These findings may provide forensic anthropologists with an additional differential diagnosis in cases where cranial thinning is present. As in medicolegal death investigation, this finding may also help forensic anthropologists better interpret perimortem cranial blunt force trauma in high-risk alcohol users. Lastly, a further appreciation of alcohol’s systemic skeletal effects can help forensic anthropologists better interpret age and antemortem trauma in individuals known to use alcohol heavily.

Download

Files over 10MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share