Journal de recherche médico-légale

Age and Sex Identification Using Multi-slice Computed Tomography of the Last Thoracic Vertebrae of an Egyptian Sample

Abstract

Ramadan N, Abd El-Salam MH, Hanon AF, El-Sayed NF and Al-Amir AY

Introduction: Accurate sex estimation plays a very important role in determining the identity of unknown individuals. Age determination also has become increasingly important in forensic science for both living and remains. Vertebrae are one of the least studied bones for age and sex identification; however, its presence at a death scene is the most common of all. The 12th thoracic vertebra (T12) is easily identifiable in a disarticulated skeleton, due to its unique morphology. Identification depending on radiological techniques is an emerging valuable tool in forensic science field.

Methodology: The study was conducted on 123 Egyptian patients; 61 males and 62 females and the age range was from 10 to 64 years. The subjects used in this study were patients who had a need for Computer Tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen for several medical reasons in the Radiology Departments of Cairo University and the CT was done for them after giving informed consent. None of the vertebrae used possessed any pathological condition and vertebrae with moderate to severe degenerative changes and osteophyte formation were excluded from this study. Fifteen linear measurements were taken for T12 thoracic vertebrae. All the procedures for this study were approved by the ethical committee of faculty of medicine, Cairo University. Microsoft excel 2010 was used for data entry and the statistical package for social science (SPSS version 21) was used for data analysis.

Results: Males were statistically significant larger than females in all measurements of T12, and sex was identified from T12 at accuracy rate 88.6%. In addition, there was significant positive correlation between age and most of measurements, however, this correlation wasn't strong.

Conclusion: Computed tomography of T12 vertebrae is a useful tool for sex and age Identification of unknown; however, further studies are needed for proper evaluation of its role on age estimation.