Ostéocondronécroses articulaires: signification et problèmes diagnostiques abordés dans l’étude d’Echantillons ostéologiques provenant de Briançon et de La Salle les Alpes (Hautes-Alpes, France)

As part of the investigations carried out in the Dauphiné region of France during the past few years, ancient human remains discovered in the Church of Puy St Pierre in Briançon and in the church of La Salle les Alpes at 6-7 km from Briançon (High French Alps), have undergone anthropological and paleopathological studies. In our studies of medieval and modern samples, we were able to observe a significant frequency of bone and joint lesions. By their morphology and location, they can be attributed to ostechondronecrosis. Osteochondronecrosis is a generic term which defines lesions of vascular origin in the joint, characterized by localized cartilage detachment and associated with or subsequent to localized subchondral bone necrosis. The lesions differ in appearance, depending on the stage of development. Generically defined by some authors as ostechondritis dissecans, osteochondrosis includes lesions that can be very different aetiologically (post-traumatic, genetic, arthritic/generative).