Gender Identification from Maxillary Sinus Using Multi-Detector Computed Tomography

Abstract

Identification of corpses is a difficult forensic procedure. The present study aimed to study the accuracy and reliability of maxillary sinus (MS) dimensions measurement in gender identification. Seventy three persons (39 men and 34 women) with age range 17-50 years were included in the study. Maxillary sinus (MS) measurements for both right and left sinuses (width, length & height), and total distance across both sinuses were measured from axial and coronal sections (4-mm slice thickness) multi-detector CT (MDCT) scanner (SOMATOM Emotion 6, Siemens). The mean value for the maximum height of maxillary sinus for male group was 40.03 ± 6.84 mm for the right side and 39.14 ± 6.75 mm for the left side and in comparison to female group that had statistically significant lower values for both right and left sides (35.65 ± 4.86 and 35.22 ± 6.48 mm respectively) as p value = 0.003 and 0.01 for right and left sides respectively. The mean value for the total distance across both sinuses was 79.48 ± 9.68 mm for male group and 75.90 ± 6.11 for female group and a significant difference was recorded between both groups with a p value = 0.05. On the other hand, there were no significant right and left side differences for male and female groups regarding MS width, length and height. Multiple regression equations revealed that among all MS measurements the right MS height was the best discriminate variable between genders [B= -0.121, p value (0.005*) and Constant= 4.451, p value (0.007*)] with overall accuracy 69.9% (71.8% for men and 67.6% for women). It can be concluded that Maxillary sinus dimensions measurements, especially the right height, are valuable in studying sexual dimorphism using MDCT image as it can provide valuable measurements for maxillary sinuses.