Abstract
Background: Forensic investigation are sensitive and needs to be accurate before presentation to the court of law like determination of exact age on autopsy. Establishing identification of unknown individual amid criminal investigation is vital to hold the actual perpetrator accountable. The first and foremost in such investigation is the determination of age.Objectives: To estimate the age of a deceased within a ±10 years range by quantitatively assessing cranial suture closure using standardized techniques, aiming to complete data collection and analysis within 9 months.Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study to analyze the degree of suture closure (by Acsádi Nemeskéri scoring scale) of the cranial vault of 90 human cadavers by utilizing non-probability consecutive convenient sampling technique from January 15, 2016 to September 30, 2016 in the mortuary of the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan.Results: The study evaluated the degree of suture closure showing complete closure across all the subsections of the sagittal suture with complete closure showing that the age was less than 60 years in deceased individuals. Complete closure of more than two third of the area of the coronal and lambdoid suture suggested that the age was somewhere between 51 to 60 years. Conclusion: The study concluded that the age can be estimated from the status of fusion of the cranial sutures of the vault with certain degree of accuracy. The closure was evident as incipient closure in thirties to advanced closure or closure in progress in forties. Complete closure was observed after 60 years of age in all the sutures.Keywords: Age, Cranium, Forensic Investigation, Forensic Autopsy, Skull, Suture, Vault.
Published Version
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