NCJ Number
212637
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 1310-1314
Date Published
November 2005
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study determined whether measurements of the foramen magnum are useful for sex determination in fragmented skulls by using three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT), and if so, the accuracy achieved.
Abstract
Individuals included in the study were randomly selected from a group of Turkish patients who had temporal bone CT for several reasons. The foramen magnum was measured for 100 patients (48 males and 52 females), ages 18 through 83. Seven measures, modified from the nine variables previously defined by Giles and Elliot, were made by a senior radiologist. These measurements were the length of occipital condyle, the width of occipital condyle, the minimum intercondylar distance, the maximum bicondylar distance, the maximum medial intercondylar distance, the length of the foramen magnum, and the width of the foramen magnum. Statistical analysis was performed on SPSS for Windows 11.5 version by using Fisher's linear discriminant functions. Although all dimensions were larger in males, there was a statistically significant difference between males and females for both length and width of right condyle and width of the foramen magnum. When these three measurements of an unidentified skull were installed in the proposed formula, the resultant larger numerical value implied the sex with an accuracy of 81 percent. 2 figures, 4 tables, and 13 references