Thyroid Cartilage Ossification and Multislice Computed Tomography Examination: A Useful Tool for Age Assessment?

• NCJ Number: 231216
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 677-683
• Author(s): Kim-Diep Dang-Tran, M.S.; Fabrice Dedouit, M.D.; Francis Joffre, M.D., Ph.D.; Daniel Rouge, M.D., Ph.D.; Herve Rousseau, M.D., Ph.D.; Norbert Telman, M.D., Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2010
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study hypothesized that recent advances in imaging techniques would enable more precise evaluation of the ossification of the thyroid cartilage.

Abstract

Many authors have studied the thyroid cartilage ossification process using radiographic features for age estimation of individuals. Their results were various: Sugiyama reported excellent correlation coefficients between ossification rates and civil age, unlike most other authors. The current study retrospectively analyzed the CT scans of 312 French patients using postprocessing software to examine the pattern of thyroid cartilage ossification, calculating the ossified volume of the cartilage on 3D reconstructions. Pearson's correlation coefficients for volume were 0.73 for men and 0.75 for women (standard error 18.02 and 17.06), indicating considerable inter-individual variability. Although a correlation between civil age and morphological changes was found, these methods based on thyroid cartilage ossification were not accurate enough for the assessment of individual age. 4 tables, 7 figures, and 21 references (Published Abstract)