Combined radiographic and anthropological approaches to victim identification of partially decomposed or skeletal remains

Conformational variations of the medial epicondyle of the humerus: A case study of fusion anomaly on dry bones

The estimation of a biological profile in biological anthropology is a central point in the study of human remains. To specify this profile, the observation of variations, and pathologies on the skeleton is a tool that makes an individual unique. In this research, the focus was on the distal part of the humerus. Through the study of five individuals from an osteo-archaeological collection, conformational anomalies of the medial epicondyle of the humerus were highlighted. The aim is to describe them and to propose an etiology of appearance. For this purpose, observation of the rest of the skeleton was carried out, in order to search for the presence of other variations, in particular anomalies of fusion of secondary ossification centers. Overall, a non-fusion of the medial epicondyle of the humerus, two fused medial micro-epicondyles and two supplementary fusions were observed. These are very rare anomalies, with an estimated prevalence of 0.7%. Conformational abnormalities of this area can lead to pain. Therefore, medical imaging for diagnostic purposes may be available: useful data for antemortem documentation in case of a disturbing disappearance. Following the study of the entire skeleton, a common etiology for these different conformations cannot be proposed. However, two categories of etiologies can be proposed: a congenital anomaly and a developmental anomaly with an environmental influence (mechanical or deficiency). The new knowledge of this area will enrich the use of individualization factors, especially in the context of forensic anthropology.

Mastoid, middle ear and inner ear analysis in CT scan - a possible contribution for the identification of remains

Objective

We aimed to evaluate whether the internal structures of the human ear have anatomical characteristics that are sufficiently distinctive to contribute to human identification and use in a forensic context.

Materials and methods

After data anonymisation, a dataset containing temporal bone CT scans of 100 subjects was processed by a radiologist who was not involved in the study. Four reference images were selected for each subject. Of the original sample, 10 examinations were used for visual comparison, case by case, against the dataset of 100 patients. This visual assessment was performed independently by four observers, who evaluated the anatomical agreement using a Likert scale (1–5). Inter-observer agreement, true positive rate, positive predictive value, true negative rate, negative predictive value, false positive rate, false negative rate and positive likelihood ratio (LR+) were evaluated.

Results

Inter-observer agreement obtained an overall Cohen’s Kappa = 99.59%. True positive rate, positive predictive value, true negative rate and negative predictive value were all 100%.

Conclusion

Visual assessment of the mastoid examinations was shown to be a robust and reliable approach to identify unique osseous features and contribute to human identification. The statistical analysis indicates that regardless of the examiner’s background and training, the approach has a high degree of accuracy.

Virtual anthropology - a brief review of the literature and history of computed tomography

Computed tomography (CT) has influenced numerous fields since its inception in the 1970s. The field of palaeoanthropology significantly benefited from this efficient and non-invasive medium in terms of the conservation, reconstruction and analysis of fossil human remains. Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of forensic anthropological studies incorporating virtual osteological analyses. Because of the increasing importance of these modern cross-sectional imaging techniques and the requirement for standardized parameters in forensic science, we deemed it important to outline the history and development of CT applications in these related academic areas. The present paper outlines the history of “virtual anthropology” and osteological multi-detector CT in the context of palaeoanthropology and forensic anthropology.