Tutankhamun: evidence-based paleopathology versus curse of the pharoah

Several speculations exist regarding possible diseases of the juvenile Pharaoh Tutankhamun. In this review published paleopathological findings and artificial alterations as well as suggestions regarding underlying diseases were characterized. A selective search of the literature was carried out in the PubMed data base in an arbitrary time interval from 1960 to 2013 (search terms: Tutankhamun, Pharaoh, paleopathology and mummy) and additional supplementary literature. Many artificial changes were a result of embalming and the examinations which have been performed since exhumation in 1922. Evidenced pathologies are craniofacial dysmorphia, bilateral alterations of the feet, malarial disease and an acute traumatic fracture of the knee. The cause of the knee fracture could no longer be reconstructed. Other trauma (e.g. skull fractures) or familial transmission of an eighteenth dynasty syndrome could not be confirmed. In addition to many artificial post-mortem alterations, chronic and acute diseases could be verified in Tutankhamun, although the underlying causes are partially unknown.