Abstract
Mineralization and ossification in the human costal cartilages were studied radiologically. The aim of our study was to evaluate differences between males and females with respect to patterns of costal cartilage calcification and also with respect to ageing. Material for this study consists of 1044 chest and abdominal radiograms of the Czech population from the Department of Radiology (537 males and 507 females). Further radiograms of 18 chest plates were obtained at routine necropsy of cadavers. The radiograms were examined for pattern of ossification of the costal cartilage. The first rib cartilages were not considered because there are no sex differences. The lower ribs exhibit sexual dimorphism. Mineralization and ossification changes appear at the end of puberty and their occurrence increases with age. The sexual difference in pattern of human costal cartilages is statistically significant and thus highly predictive of sex determination.
Highlights
The costal cartilages are invisible in the radiograms unless they are calcified
11 fragments of chest plates from cadavers dissected in the Department of Forensic Medicine were radiographed, too
We examined 1044 chest and abdomen radiograms
Summary
The costal cartilages are invisible in the radiograms unless they are calcified. Calcification and ossification are the main changes which appear in ageing costal cartilages. Previous studies have attempted to correlate costal cartilage calcification with many pathological states, e.g. arteriosclerosis, nutritional state, metabolic or endocrine changes[4, 6]. Genetic influences are mentioned[9]. Differences between males and females in costal cartilage calcification were first described in 19553. Other authors[1, 2, 7, 8, 10] described the differences in their studies
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