General Study of Bony Synostosis in Human Skeleton

Coalition and fusion of adjacent bones in different regions of human body have been known for several centuries. But only within last five decades these have been associated with certain clinical entity. These bony anomalies have been frequently overlooked, especially in young patients presenting with symptoms of local relentless pain, stiffness and diminished range of movements. It is not uncommon to see the fusion of two adjacent bones as an incidental finding in adulthood. But an occurrence of fusion of two different bones in two different parts of body in the same individual is a rare phenomenon and has been reported very rarely. The current study is an attempt to extrapolate a similar incidental finding of 'Tarsal Coalition' of the left Talus and Calcaneus and 'Cervical Fusion' of the second and third cervical vertebra and the fourth and fifth cervical vertebra observed in the same individual by undertaking a retrospective study of 100 skeletons. Furthermore, an attempt was made to correlate the case of such unusual fusions in the same individual which may be congenital or acquired with the advancing age.