“Bochdalek’s” skull: morphology report and reconstruction of face

The objective of this study was to create a real model of a face using the well preserved “Bochdalek’s skull” (from an eighteenth Century female aged 18 years) kept in the museum of anatomy (Institute of Anatomy, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University in Prague). The skull had previously been appraised as a deformed skull with an adhesion present on both sides of the jaw, most likely of post-traumatic origin (bilateral syngnathia). In an attempt to find the best description for it, and to identify the spatial relationships between the surface of the facial bones which had changed in shape, as well as the formation of soft tissue on the face, we decided to perform a 3D reconstruction of the face. Due to the necessity of preserving the unique original undamaged skull, we created an exact digital “casting” of the facial bone structure on a computer first, which we then converted into a three-dimensional model using a 3D RepRap printer. We needed to take into consideration the fact that we had no portrait of the girl, just the skull. For this reason, we opted for a selected combination of anthropologic steps (the modified Manchester technique), which in our view, allows for optimum creation of the topography of the face in keeping with the deformed skull. The resulting reconstructed face was old in appearance with an overhanging lower lip and flattened surfaces in the areas of the temporalis and masseter muscles.