Abstract
ABSTRACT Ossification centres in the adult skeleton are important markers for age estimation. Sphenooccipital synchondrosis (SOS) is of particular significance in forensic anthropology case work due to its late closure in adolescent age groups. The aim of this study is to evaluate the SOS fusion degree for age estimation of the Turkish population. In this study, images of 298 patients within the age of 5 to 25 years were retrospectively examined. The fusion degree of the SOS was assessed using a 5-stage system. Eight morphological measurements were taken from sagittal images and completely open types. We found that the upper end width of the synchondrosis was significantly lower than the lower end width of the synchondrosis. SOS fusion began at the superior border of the synchondrosis. Fusion starts 2 years earlier in females than in males, and the process of fusion completes at the age of 17 years in males and at the age of 19 years in females in this study. In conclusion, we consider that the differences in SOS fusion among studies are due to racial diversity and different methodologies and the SOS fusion stage is as a supportive evidence for age estimation in the presence of other clues.
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