Stephan Carl N, Devine Matthew
Anatomy and Developmental Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
Forensic Sci Int. 2009 Oct 30;191(1-3):70-9. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.06.016. Epub 2009 Jul 26.
The construction of the facial muscles (particularly those of mastication) is generally thought to enhance the accuracy of facial approximation methods because they increase attention paid to face anatomy. However, the lack of consideration for non-muscular structures of the face when using these "anatomical" methods ironically forces one of the two large masticatory muscles to be exaggerated beyond reality. To demonstrate and resolve this issue the temporal region of nineteen caucasoid human cadavers (10 females, 9 males; mean age=84 years, s=9 years, range=58-97 years) were investigated. Soft tissue depths were measured at regular intervals across the temporal fossa in 10 cadavers, and the thickness of the muscle and fat components quantified in nine other cadavers. The measurements indicated that the temporalis muscle generally accounts for <50% of the total soft tissue depth, and does not fill the entirety of the fossa (as generally known in the anatomical literature, but not as followed in facial approximation practice). In addition, a soft tissue bulge was consistently observed in the anteroinferior portion of the temporal fossa (as also evident in younger individuals), and during dissection, this bulge was found to closely correspond to the superficial temporal fat pad (STFP). Thus, the facial surface does not follow a simple undulating curve of the temporalis muscle as currently undertaken in facial approximation methods. New metric-based facial approximation guidelines are presented to facilitate accurate construction of the STFP and the temporalis muscle for future facial approximation casework. This study warrants further investigations of the temporalis muscle and the STFP in younger age groups and demonstrates that untested facial approximation guidelines, including those propounded to be anatomical, should be cautiously regarded.
面部肌肉（尤其是咀嚼肌）的结构通常被认为能提高面部复原方法的准确性，因为它们能增加对面部解剖结构的关注度。然而，在使用这些“解剖学”方法时，若不考虑面部的非肌肉结构，具有讽刺意味的是，会导致两块大型咀嚼肌之一被过度夸张。为了证明并解决这一问题，我们对19具高加索人种的人类尸体（10名女性，9名男性；平均年龄 = 84岁，标准差 = 9岁，年龄范围 = 58 - 97岁）的颞部区域进行了研究。在10具尸体上，以固定间隔测量颞窝处的软组织深度，并在另外9具尸体上对肌肉和脂肪成分的厚度进行量化。测量结果表明，颞肌通常占软组织总深度的不到50%，并且并未填满整个颞窝（正如解剖学文献中普遍所知，但面部复原实践中并未遵循）。此外，在颞窝的前下部始终观察到一个软组织隆起（在较年轻个体中也很明显），在解剖过程中，发现这个隆起与颞浅脂肪垫（STFP）密切对应。因此，面部表面并不像目前面部复原方法那样遵循颞肌的简单起伏曲线。本文提出了基于新指标的面部复原指南，以方便在未来的面部复原案例中准确构建颞浅脂肪垫和颞肌。本研究值得对更年轻年龄组的颞肌和颞浅脂肪垫进行进一步研究，并表明未经检验的面部复原指南，包括那些被认为是基于解剖学的指南，应谨慎对待。
