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Malschitzky C, Vidigal MTC, Moreira DD, Silva RF, de Andrade Vieira W, Paranhos LR, Franco A. How reliable is stature estimation by dental means? Systematic review and meta-analysis. Forensic Sci Int 2024; 361:112149. [PMID: 39047515 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Revised: 07/09/2024] [Accepted: 07/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Dental measurements have been proposed as parameters for stature estimation for at least 85 years. The scientific literature on the topic, however, is controversial regarding the performance of the method. This systematic literature review of observational cross-sectional studies aimed to compile evidence to support decisions in the forensic practice regarding the use of dental measurements for stature estimation. Embase, LILACS, MedLine (via PubMed), SciELO, Scopus, Web of Science, DansEasy and Open Access Thesis and Dissertations (OATD) were searched. Data regarding the rate of correct stature classifications were extracted. A meta-analysis with a Random Intercept Logistic Regression model and a Logit Transformation was conducted. The search led to 10.803 entries, out of which 15 were considered eligible (n = 1486 individuals). The studies were published between 1990 and 2020 and were authored by South American (n = 7) and Asian (n = 8) research teams. Dental measurements were predominantly (93.34 %) performed on dental casts or via intraoral inspection. The overall rate of correct classifications based on stature was 68 %. Excluding outliers, the overall accuracy of the method decreased to 64 % (95 %CI: 54-73 %). Significant heterogeneity was detected (I² = 72.4 %, τ2 = 0.24, H = 1.91, p < 0.001). Egger's test (p = 0.94) and the funnel plot did not reveal publication bias. Dental measurements are not reliable for stature estimation in the forensic field.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Tereza Campos Vidigal
- Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
| | | | - Rhonan Ferreira Silva
- Department of Forensic Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil; Department of Forensic Dentistry and Anthropology, Scientific Police of Goiás, Goiânica, Brazil
| | - Walbert de Andrade Vieira
- Department of Dentistry, Universidade das Faculdades Associadas de Ensino - FAE, São João da Boa Vista, SP, Brazil
| | - Luiz Renato Paranhos
- Division of Social and Community Dentistry, Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
| | - Ademir Franco
- Division of Forensic Dentistry, Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, Brazil; Department of Therapeutic Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia.
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Stature estimation by semi-automatic measurements of 3D CT images of the femur. Int J Legal Med 2023; 137:359-377. [PMID: 36474127 PMCID: PMC9902306 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-022-02921-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Stature estimation is one of the most basic and important methods of personal identification. The long bones of the limbs provide the most accurate stature estimation, with the femur being one of the most useful. In all the previously reported methods of stature estimation using computed tomography (CT) images of the femur, laborious manual measurement was necessary. A semi-automatic bone measuring method can simplify this process, so we firstly reported a stature estimation process using semi-automatic bone measurement software equipped with artificial intelligence. Multiple measurements of femurs of adult Japanese cadavers were performed using automatic three-dimensional reconstructed CT images of femurs. After manually setting four points on the femur, an automatic measurement was acquired. The relationships between stature and five femoral measurements, with acceptable intraobserver and interobserver errors, were analyzed with single regression analysis using the standard error of the estimate (SEE) and the coefficient of determination (R2). The maximum length of the femur (MLF) provided the lowest SEE and the highest R2; the SEE and R2 in all cadavers, males and females, respectively, were 3.913 cm (R2 = 0.842), 3.664 cm (R2 = 0.705), and 3.456 cm (R2 = 0.686) for MLF on the right femur, and 3.837 cm (R2 = 0.848), 3.667 cm (R2 = 0.705), and 3.384 cm (R2 = 0.699) for MLF on the left femur. These results were non-inferior to those of previous reports regarding stature estimation using the MLF. Stature estimation with this simple and time-saving method would be useful in forensic medical practice.
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Cox SL, Moots HM, Stock JT, Shbat A, Bitarello BD, Nicklisch N, Alt KW, Haak W, Rosenstock E, Ruff CB, Mathieson I. Predicting skeletal stature using ancient
DNA. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021. [PMCID: PMC9298243 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha L. Cox
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
- Physical Anthropology Section, Penn Museum University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Hannah M. Moots
- Department of Anthropology Stanford University Stanford California USA
| | - Jay T. Stock
- Department of Anthropology Western University London Ontario Canada
- Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany
| | - Andrej Shbat
- Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic
| | - Bárbara D. Bitarello
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Nicole Nicklisch
- Center of Natural and Cultural Human History Danube Private University Krems Austria
| | - Kurt W. Alt
- Center of Natural and Cultural Human History Danube Private University Krems Austria
| | - Wolfgang Haak
- Department of Archaeogenetics Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany
| | - Eva Rosenstock
- Bonn Center for ArchaeoSciences Institut für Archäologie und Kulturanthropologie, Universität Bonn Bonn Germany
| | - Christopher B. Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland USA
| | - Iain Mathieson
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
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Dzupa V, Konarik M, Knize J, Veleminsky P, Vranova J, Baca V, Kachlik D. The size and shape of the human pelvis: a comparative study of modern and medieval age populations. Ann Anat 2021; 237:151749. [PMID: 33940120 DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2021.151749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Great variability in shape and size of the bony pelvis can be observed in the current population, but there is not enough data on how long the historical period must elapse to gain changes in pelvic shape and size. The aim of the study was to identify morphological changes in bony pelvis in males and females after a developmentally short period of approximately one thousand years. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seventeen defined external dimensions of pelvic bone from 120 adult individuals (two craniocaudal, two ventrodorsal, six mediolateral, three acetabular dimensions, and four dimension of the auricular surface) were measured. The medieval sample of 60 pelvic bones (30 male and 30 female) was obtained from the Great Moravian site of Mikulčice-Valy (9th-10th century), while the modern collection of 60 pelvic bones (30 male and 30 female) dates from the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Obtained results were evaluated using the independent t-test at a 5% level of significance. RESULTS A comparison of male and female pelvic dimensions within a single population yielded expected results: the mean male values were greater. In modern population, male pelvis mean values were greater in 15 of defined parameters, while in medieval population, male dimensions were larger in 16 variables. A comparison of modern and medieval female pelvic bones found 11 variables to be greater in medieval sample (one determining the craniocaudal dimension, five the mediolateral, all three the acetabular, and two determining the auricular surface dimensions), but only two were significant (two dimensions determining the mediolateral dimensions). In modern female samples, there were five variables greater (one determining the craniocaudal dimension, one the ventrodorsal, one the mediolateral, and two determining the auricular surface dimensions), but only two were significant as well (one determining the craniocaudal and one the ventrodorsal dimensions). A comparison of male pelvic bones found 13 variables to be greater in medieval pelvis (one determining the craniocaudal dimension, all six the mediolateral, one the ventrodorsal, all three the acetabular, and two determining the auricular surface dimensions), but only four were significant as well (all determining the mediolateral dimensions). In modern male sample, there were only four variables greater (one determining the craniocaudal dimension, one the ventrodorsal, and two determining the auricular surface dimensions), but only one was significant (determining the craniocaudal dimension). CONCLUSION Unexpectedly, our study did not find the early medieval population to have a smaller pelvis compared to the modern population. While pelvic bones of the former were somewhat lower, but wider, those of the latter population were a bit higher and narrower. The study allows a very careful statement that one millennium is a time period long enough for measurable morphological deviations of the pelvic bones shape and size to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valer Dzupa
- Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, and University Hospital Kralovske Vinohrady, Srobarova 50, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic; Center for Integrated Studies of the Pelvis, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
| | - Marek Konarik
- Department of Anatomy, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, 150 06, Prague 5, Czech Republic; Center for Integrated Studies of the Pelvis, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
| | - Jakub Knize
- Department of Anatomy, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, 150 06, Prague 5, Czech Republic; Center for Integrated Studies of the Pelvis, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
| | - Petr Veleminsky
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum, Vaclavske nam. 68, 110 00, Prague 1, Czech Republic.
| | - Jana Vranova
- Department of Biophysics and Informatics, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
| | - Vaclav Baca
- Department of Health Care Studies, Colleague of Polytechnics Jihlava, Tolsteho 16, 586 01, Jihlava, Czech Republic; Center for Integrated Studies of the Pelvis, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
| | - David Kachlik
- Department of Anatomy, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, 150 06, Prague 5, Czech Republic; Center for Integrated Studies of the Pelvis, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00, Prague 10, Czech Republic.
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Garoufi N, Bertsatos A, Chovalopoulou ME, Villa C. Forensic sex estimation using the vertebrae: an evaluation on two European populations. Int J Legal Med 2020; 134:2307-2318. [PMID: 32940842 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-020-02430-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Sex estimation is one of the primary steps for constructing the biological profile of skeletal remains leading to their identification in the forensic context. While the pelvis is the most sex diagnostic bone, the cranium and other post-cranial elements have been extensively studied. Earlier research has also focused on the vertebral column with varying results regarding its sex classification accuracy as well as the underlying population specificity. The present study focuses on three easily identifiable vertebrae, namely T1, T12, and L1, and utilizes two modern European populations, a Greek and a Danish, to evaluate their forensic utility in sex identification. To this end, 865 vertebrae from 339 individuals have been analyzed for sexual dimorphism by further evaluating the effects of age-at-death and population affinity on its expression. Our results show that T1 is the best sex diagnostic vertebra for both populations reaching cross-validated accuracy of almost 90%, while age-at-death has limited effect on its sexual dimorphism. On the contrary, T12 and L1 produced varying results ranging from 75 to 83% accuracy with the Greek population exhibiting distinctively more pronounced sexual dimorphism. Additionally, age-at-death had significant effect on sexual dimorphism of T12 and L1 and especially in the Greek female and Danish male groups. Our results on inter-population comparison suggest that vertebral sex discriminant functions, and especially those utilizing multiple measurements, are highly population specific and optimally suitable only for their targeted population. An open-source software tool to facilitate classifying new cases based on our results is made freely available to forensic researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nefeli Garoufi
- Department of Animal and Human Physiology, Faculty of Biology, School of Sciences, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, GR 157 01, Athens, Greece.
| | - Andreas Bertsatos
- Department of Animal and Human Physiology, Faculty of Biology, School of Sciences, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, GR 157 01, Athens, Greece
| | - Maria-Eleni Chovalopoulou
- Department of Animal and Human Physiology, Faculty of Biology, School of Sciences, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, GR 157 01, Athens, Greece
- Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, 2121, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Chiara Villa
- Laboratory of Advanced Imaging and 3D Modelling Section of Forensic Pathology, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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SPINNE: An app for human vertebral height estimation based on artificial neural networks. Forensic Sci Int 2019; 298:121-130. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.02.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Weiss NM, Vercellotti G, Boano R, Girotti M, Stout SD. Body size and social status in medieval Alba (Cuneo), Italy. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 168:595-605. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Revised: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M. Weiss
- Department of AnthropologyThe Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Giuseppe Vercellotti
- Department of AnthropologyThe Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
- Division of Health SciencesThe Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Rosa Boano
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems BiologyUniversity of Turin Torino Italy
| | - Marilena Girotti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems BiologyUniversity of Turin Torino Italy
| | - Sam D. Stout
- Department of AnthropologyThe Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
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Ruff CB, Niskanen M, Maijanen H, Mays S. Effects of age and body proportions on stature estimation. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:370-377. [PMID: 30589083 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Two issues involved in mathematical estimation of stature from long bone lengths are explored: the use of different age points for estimating maximum adult stature, and the effects of linear body proportions on stature estimation errors. Both issues were raised by a recent analysis of stature in the British Medieval Wharram Percy sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS A large (n > 500) sample of European skeletal remains with anatomically estimated statures is used to test associations between relative lower limb length and errors in stature estimation using previously published equations for European samples. Two cadaveric samples of known ages (Terry and Bass Collections) are used to identify the most appropriate age point to employ in a linear equation with an age term for estimation of maximum adult anatomical stature. RESULTS Relative lower limb length is positively correlated with errors in stature estimation from lower limb bone lengths. Underestimation of stature in the Wharram Percy sample by the European equations is largely attributable to the relatively short lower limbs of this sample compared to Europeans in general. Two methods for assessing and adjusting for relative lower limb length variation are presented. Maximum adult stature is best estimated using an age point of 30 years when a linear age term is employed. DISCUSSION Body proportions may vary even within relatively closely related populations, so should be assessed and compared to those of reference samples whenever possible when applying mathematical stature equations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | | | - Heli Maijanen
- Department of Archeology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Simon Mays
- Research Department, Historic England, Fort Cumberland, Eastney, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
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Hora M, Sládek V. Population specificity of sex estimation from vertebrae. Forensic Sci Int 2018; 291:279.e1-279.e12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Revised: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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10
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Mays S. Estimation of stature in archaeological human skeletal remains from Britain. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 161:646-655. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Revised: 07/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. Mays
- Research Department, Historic EnglandFort CumberlandEastney PortsmouthPO4 9LD
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