Background: The Paris Catacombs contain the remains of approximately 6 million people dating back to the 15th century, when leprosy was endemic in France.Aims: The aim of this palaeopathological study was to identify the presence of leprosy in skulls from the Paris Catacombs.Subjects and methods: Macroscopic examination of skulls in situ for bone changes secondary to oronasal soft tissue infection by leprosy. Skulls were categorised as having "probable" signs of leprosy if they had an enlarged nasal (pyriform) aperture, resorption of the anterior nasal spine, and resorption of the alveolar processes of maxilla, and as having "possible" signs of leprosy if they met one of these three criteria.Results: Skulls from 123 sections within the Catacombs (approximately 1500 remains in total) were triaged, with 367 skulls identified as suitable for examination. Of these, 74 had central facial bone alterations/abnormalities and underwent detailed examination, yielding 0.5% (2/367) classified as having probable, and 5.7% (21/367) possible signs of leprosy.Conclusions: The proportion of skulls with probable signs of leprosy gives an approximate estimate (0.5%) for the prevalence of this disease in the population of Paris (or districts of Paris) during the 15-18th centuries.

中文翻译：

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巴黎地下墓穴的头骨麻风病。

背景：巴黎地下墓穴中存有大约15万人的遗物，这些遗物可以追溯到15世纪法国麻风病流行时的目的。方法和方法：宏观检查原位颅骨是否有麻风感染口鼻部软组织继发的骨骼变化。如果头骨具有扩大的鼻孔（梨状），鼻前突吸收和上颌牙槽突吸收，则被归类为具有“可能”麻风病征象；如果符合，则被归类为具有“可能”的麻风病征象。这三个标准之一。结果：对地下墓穴中123个部分的头骨（总共约1500个残骸）进行了分类，被鉴定为适合检查的367具头骨。其中74例具有面部面部中央骨改变/异常并进行了详细检查，得出0.5％（2/367）分类为可能的麻风病，而5.7％（21/367）分类为麻风病的可能。在15至18世纪的巴黎（或巴黎地区）人口中，麻风病的发病率约为这种疾病的患病率（0.5％）。