OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGIC COMPUTER-ASSISTED BIOPSIES OF THE ICEMAN

Background: The Iceman is a prehistoric, completely preserved, 5300-ye ar-old male human mummy. Objective: To obtain the first biopsy specime ns from inside the Iceman while meeting an extended standard of hygien e and following precise intraoperative guidance to the site of biopsy and keeping tissue damage to a minimum. Design: Biopsy specimens from the nose, the maxillary sinus, and the larynx of the Iceman were obtai ned. Special caution had to be taken while performing the biopsies to not contaminate the Iceman with heavy metals or remnants of microorgan isms. Subject: The Iceman, a cadaver kept frozen in a glacier for 5300 years. The Iceman is in an excellent state of preservation and will a llow fundamental histological, morphological,and molecular genetic ins ights into early man. Intervention: The biopsies were planned and exec uted with the aid of Interventional Video Tomography, a system that gu ides the surgeon to the target area by combining live video with exist ing imaging modalities. The system does not need mechanical fixation o f the subject (the Iceman) and is barely in physical contact with the subject; thus, it was the ideal tool for guiding the surgeon to the si te of the biopsy samplings through a tiny canal into the nose, the max illary sinus, and the larynx of the Iceman. Results: We have obtained a number of tissue samples by precisely guided 3-dimensional navigatio n. Unnecessary tissue damage was avoided. Conclusions: Visual inspecti on of the extracted mucosa showed typical human cadaver tissue, despit e its age, without clinical abnormalities. Currently, the samples are being investigated by various international scientific groups.