Abstract
BackgroundHuman identification is of a paramount forensic concern. It includes sex determination which becomes extremely complex and tricky especially in fragmentary remains.Purpose of the studyWe aimed to evaluate the accuracy of ten dimensions of foramen magnum (FM) and occipital condyles in determination of sex among 367 subjects (204 females and 163 males), their ages ranged between 18-75 years. Multislice Computed Tomography images of skulls of the studied patients were obtained from the Radiology Department. Ten different anatomical variables of the FM were measured by two independent experienced radiologists blinded to the study.ResultsFM dimensions are unique and show significant sexual dimorphism in the studied Egyptian population especially with application of discriminant function analysis. These landmarks include foramen magnum length and width (FML, FMW), FM index, FM area, length of the right and left occipital condyles (LROC, LLOC), width of the right occipital condyle (WROC), maximum bicondylar distance (MBD) and minimum intercondylar distance (MnICD). LROC and FMW are highly significant discriminating variables predicting sex.ConclusionsIt is concluded that all the studied FM parameters showed significant differences between males and females except the left occipital condylar width with higher male values when compared to females. Additionally, the right occipital condylar length and FM width are highly significant discriminating variables which are strongly beneficial in prediction of sex. FM dimensions would provide a reliable additional tool for identification of sex among adult population and could be specific for Egyptians in case of fragmentary remains or damaged skulls.
Highlights
Sex determination is an essential biological trait of human identification process which becomes extremely complex and tricky in case of dispersed and fragmentary remains especially with minimum forensic evidence (Tambawala et al, 2016)
It is concluded that all the studied foramen magnum (FM) parameters showed significant differences between males and females except the left occipital condylar width with higher male values when compared to females
The right occipital condylar length and FM width are highly significant discriminating variables which are strongly beneficial in prediction of sex
Summary
Sex determination is an essential biological trait of human identification process which becomes extremely complex and tricky in case of dispersed and fragmentary remains especially with minimum forensic evidence (Tambawala et al, 2016). One of the important landmarks of the basicranium is the Foramen Magnum (FM) that attracted considerable interest and has various scientific and legal applications especially in sexual dimorphism mainly in the context of having significantly large number of fragmentary remains such as victims of mass disasters or with decomposed skeletonized bodies (Toneva et al, 2018). Human identification is of a paramount forensic concern It includes sex determination which becomes extremely complex and tricky especially in fragmentary remains. Ten different anatomical variables of the FM were measured by two independent experienced radiologists blinded to the study
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