Forensic medical determination of the age based on the analysis of CT-scanograms of the skull and the craniovertebral region in the sagittal projection

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine the biological age of the unrecognized individuals based on the analysis of CT-scanograms of the skull and the craniovertebral region in the sagittal projection. We investigated the structure of the spongy substance of the clinoid plate of the sella turcica and the clivus of the cranium, involution of the vertebrae configuration in the medial atlantoaxial articulation, frontal and sphenoidal sinuses. A total of 80 skulls of Caucasoid individuals at the age ranging from 4 to 84 years belonging to an Eastern Slavonic population (free from the pathological lesions in the above cranial structures) were available for the examination. The results of the multifactorial analysis gave evidence of the possibility to estimate the age of individual subjects based on the comprehensive aggregate qualitative and quantitative characteristic in the framework of the linear regression model by making use of the age-related changes in the frontal and sphenoidal sinuses, the sella turcica and the clivus of the cranium, the first and the second cervical vertebrae with an accuracy to within 6 years. It is concluded that the application of the systems for the automated statistical analysis of the images for the purposes of forensic medical expertise would allow to obtain the results of great practical and scientific value.