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Sex determination based on the analysis of a contemporary Polish population’s palatine bones: a computed tomography study of 1,200 patients
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Abstract
Background: The aims of the present study were to assess whether the hard palate reveals any measurable sex-related differences, and to create a mathematical model which would differentiate between males and females using hard palate measurements alone.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 1,200 archived sinus computed tomography (CT) scans. Each cranial measurement was taken twice by the same observer, and in cases of any discrepancies, the mean of the two values was recorded. Twenty per cent of randomly chosen samples were re-measured by an observer who did not partake in assessing the samples the first time. Logistic regression was used to derivate two mathematical formulas which would calculate the probability of a skull being male.
Results: The studied group comprised 1,200 head CT’s (627 female; 52.3%). The mean age of the group was 43.5 ± 17.4 years — no age difference between sexes was noted (p = 0.37). All of the performed measurements were significantly (p < 0.0001) larger in males than in females. The mathematical formula based on the “orale-spina nasalis posterior” (O-SNP) distance alone had a reliability rate of 68.35%. The equation based on the depth of the right greater palatine canal (GPC), the O-SNP distance and the anterior width of the palatal arch (AWPA) had a reliability rate of 78.37%.
Conclusions: The most prominent sexually dimorphic parameters were the O-SNP, the GPC depth and the AWPA. The mathematical models presented in the current study can be used to successfully distinguish between sexes during forensic examination.
Abstract
Background: The aims of the present study were to assess whether the hard palate reveals any measurable sex-related differences, and to create a mathematical model which would differentiate between males and females using hard palate measurements alone.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 1,200 archived sinus computed tomography (CT) scans. Each cranial measurement was taken twice by the same observer, and in cases of any discrepancies, the mean of the two values was recorded. Twenty per cent of randomly chosen samples were re-measured by an observer who did not partake in assessing the samples the first time. Logistic regression was used to derivate two mathematical formulas which would calculate the probability of a skull being male.
Results: The studied group comprised 1,200 head CT’s (627 female; 52.3%). The mean age of the group was 43.5 ± 17.4 years — no age difference between sexes was noted (p = 0.37). All of the performed measurements were significantly (p < 0.0001) larger in males than in females. The mathematical formula based on the “orale-spina nasalis posterior” (O-SNP) distance alone had a reliability rate of 68.35%. The equation based on the depth of the right greater palatine canal (GPC), the O-SNP distance and the anterior width of the palatal arch (AWPA) had a reliability rate of 78.37%.
Conclusions: The most prominent sexually dimorphic parameters were the O-SNP, the GPC depth and the AWPA. The mathematical models presented in the current study can be used to successfully distinguish between sexes during forensic examination.
Keywords
computed tomography, craniometrics, forensic analysis, hard palate, palatine bone, sex determination, sexing, sexual dimorphism
About this articleTitle
Sex determination based on the analysis of a contemporary Polish population’s palatine bones: a computed tomography study of 1,200 patients
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original article
Pages
462-468
Published online
2014-11-28
Page views
1788
Article views/downloads
2144
DOI
10.5603/FM.2014.0069
Bibliographic record
Folia Morphol 2014;73(4):462-468.
Keywords
computed tomography
craniometrics
forensic analysis
hard palate
palatine bone
sex determination
sexing
sexual dimorphism
Authors
I. M. Tomaszewska
P. Frączek
M. Gomulska
M. Pliczko
A. Śliwińska
K. Sałapa
R. Chrzan
P. Kowalski
M. Nowakowski
J. A. Walocha
