a Department of Pediatric Medical Imaging, Primary Children?s Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
b Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England

Address reprint requests to Richard S. Boyer, MD, Department of Medical Imaging, Primary Children?s Medical Center, 100 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84113

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tutankhamen, the last pharaoh of the XVIIIth dynasty, died unexpectedly at approximately age 18 years. A cause of death has never been established, but theories that the young king was murdered by a blow to the head have been proposed based on skull radiographs obtained by a team from the University of Liverpool in 1968. We recently had the opportunity to evaluate the skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamen. The purpose of this study was to report our critical appraisal of the radiographs of Tutankhamen regarding the findings alleged to indicate traumatic death.

METHODS: Copies of lateral, anteroposterior, and submental vertex skull radiographs of Tutankhamen were reviewed with special attention to the claims of a depressed skull fracture, intracranial bone fragments, and calcified membrane of a posterior fossa subdural hematoma. A phantom skull was radiographed to reproduce the appearance of the floor of the posterior fossa in the lateral projection.

RESULTS: The skull radiographs of Tutankhamen show only postmortem artifacts that are explainable by an understanding of the methods of mummy preservation used at the time of his death. Some findings also relate to trauma inflicted by an autopsy performed in 1925. The alleged calcified membrane of a posterior fossa subdural hematoma is easily reproduced with a skull phantom.

CONCLUSION: Our critical review of the skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamen does not support proposed theories of a traumatic or homicidal death.

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Originally posted by ausar:
American Journal of Neuroradiology 24:1142-1147, June-July 2003
© 2003 American Society of Neuroradiology
HEAD AND NECK
The Skull and Cervical Spine Radiographs of Tutankhamen: A Critical Appraisal
Richard S. Boyera,b, Ernst A. Rodina,b, Todd C. Greya,b and R. C. Connollya,b

a Department of Pediatric Medical Imaging, Primary Children?s Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
b Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England

Address reprint requests to Richard S. Boyer, MD, Department of Medical Imaging, Primary Children?s Medical Center, 100 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84113

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tutankhamen, the last pharaoh of the XVIIIth dynasty, died unexpectedly at approximately age 18 years. A cause of death has never been established, but theories that the young king was murdered by a blow to the head have been proposed based on skull radiographs obtained by a team from the University of Liverpool in 1968. We recently had the opportunity to evaluate the skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamen. The purpose of this study was to report our critical appraisal of the radiographs of Tutankhamen regarding the findings alleged to indicate traumatic death.

METHODS: Copies of lateral, anteroposterior, and submental vertex skull radiographs of Tutankhamen were reviewed with special attention to the claims of a depressed skull fracture, intracranial bone fragments, and calcified membrane of a posterior fossa subdural hematoma. A phantom skull was radiographed to reproduce the appearance of the floor of the posterior fossa in the lateral projection.

RESULTS: The skull radiographs of Tutankhamen show only postmortem artifacts that are explainable by an understanding of the methods of mummy preservation used at the time of his death. Some findings also relate to trauma inflicted by an autopsy performed in 1925. The alleged calcified membrane of a posterior fossa subdural hematoma is easily reproduced with a skull phantom.

CONCLUSION: Our critical review of the skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamen does not support proposed theories of a traumatic or homicidal death.

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[Keeping Tut Pretty ]
Keeping Tut Pretty
In Depth: Unravel the Tut Mystery
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Guess Who Killed King Tut
Oct. 2 ? Tutankhamun's beautiful golden mask, the embodiment of a man secure in his power, has been flattering the pharaoh for many centuries, according to the latest medical investigation into the teenage king's body.

A closer examination of the 1968 X-rays taken inside Tut's coffin by Liverpool University's Ronald Harrison, provided scientists with new clues about the pharaoh's health.

"We are talking of a young man who should have a nice, healthy-looking cervical spine, and this is not a nice healthy looking cervical spine," Dr. Richard Boyer, from the Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, said after looking at Tutankhamun's spine.

Did King Tut die a natural death? To find out, watch "The Assassination of King Tut" on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on the Discovery Channel
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The original X-rays, for the first time on public display at London's Science Museum, show an abnormal curvature of the spine and fusion of the upper vertebrae, a condition associated with scoliosis and a rare disorder called Klippel-Feil syndrome, which makes sufferers look as if they have a short neck.

Moreover, people with Klippel-Feil have restricted movement of the upper spine and cannot turn their heads without moving the entire torso.

According to Salt Lake City chief medical examiner Todd Grey, King Tut may have needed a cane to support himself or to help with walking. About 130 walking sticks found among his fabulous treasure would support the theory.

Since Howard Carter discovered the splendors of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1922, the best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt has been puzzling scientists.

Only a few facts about his life are know: Tut.ankh.Amun, "the living image of Amun," ascended the throne in 1333 B.C., at the age of nine, and reigned until his death at 17 or 18. He was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families.

The cause of the young pharaoh's death has been a source of historical debate ever since his tomb was discovered, but given his medical records he could have easily died because of his frail health. The rare disorder he suffered from could have left him very fragile and at risk of fatal spinal cord injury from a simple push or a minor fall.

"Klippel-Feil syndrome is commonly associated with other congenital problems that would have affected not only his appearance, but his overall health and function," Steven M. Theiss, assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Division of Orthopedic Surgery, told Discovery News.

Indeed, Tutankhamun's health could have been affected by other disorders. A study in 2000 suggested that the pharaoh may have been cursed with a genetic disease which left him with fatty hips. He had a 31in chest, 29in waist and 43in hips, according to scientists at the University of Leiden, Holland, who conducted an eight-year research project on his clothes.

Pear-shaped, with severe scoliosis, a short neck, unsteady on his feet, the most fascinating pharaoh of Egyptian history has turned out to be burdened with physical woes.