Histology of pulmonary tuberculosis in a 19th-century mummy from Comiso (Sicily, Italy)

Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate potential evidence of tuberculosis in mummified remains.

Materials

The natural mummy of an anonymous friar from the mortuary chapel of the church of Santa Maria della Grazia in Comiso (Sicily)

Methods

The mummy was studied through macroscopic examination; tissue sampling was conducted through breaches in the dorsal surface of the thorax. Radiological, histological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed on the pulmonary parenchyma.

Results

The mummified remains are those of an adult male approximately 25–45 years old. In the left lung, 7 intra parenchymal calcified nodules were detected. The fibrocalcific nodules showed some lacunae surrounded by fibrous tissue containing amorphous necrotic, most probably caseous, material.

Conclusions

These findings are compatible with a chronic infectious-inflammatory disease, likely a calcification of a previous Ghon complex of an apical nodular tuberculosis.

Significance

Our study supports the great spread of the disease in the 19th century; a time when it reached its maximum peak in Europe.

Limitations

Molecular investigations failed to detect traces of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in the sample.

Suggestions for further research

The investigation on the mummies from Comiso is still in progress, and further analyses will potentially provide paleopathological data on this community of Modern Age which could be integrated with historical and archival sources.