Department of Neuroradiology, UKGM, Justus-Liebig University, Klinikstraße 29, 35385, Giessen, Germany.
Int J Legal Med. 2011 May;125(3):417-25. doi: 10.1007/s00414-010-0544-3. Epub 2011 Jan 15.
The objective of this article was to estimate the age at death in forensic or anthropologic applications based on human skull investigation. Sex-dependent differences were analyzed.
Digital, high-resolution, flat-panel-based volumetric computed tomography (eXplore Locus Ultra scanner) images (165,920) of 244 European human skulls-163 males, 81 females-were analyzed according to their radiological bone density, based on Hounsfield units (H) that are directly related to the x-ray attenuation of the scanned material. Data were collected by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital Giessen and Marburg during 2007 and 2008. Correlation analysis was used for data description.
Human skull density estimates are widely scattered as a function of age for both sexes. Male skull bone density remains constant during lifetime, whereas female skull bone density decays slowly from approximately 20 years onwards.
Bone density decay only theoretically provides a new method to determine age at death for adult females. Due to the scattering of the data, an accuracy of approximately ±18 years is found at a confidence interval of 75%, which is, unfortunately, of limited practical interest. We found new sex differences of bone density decay in the skull that are potentially of relevance for the general understanding of bone degradation processes.
本文旨在通过对人类颅骨的研究，估算法医学和人类学应用中死亡年龄。分析了性别差异。
根据亨氏单位（H）（与扫描材料的 X 射线衰减直接相关），对 244 个欧洲人类颅骨（163 个男性，81 个女性）的数字、高分辨率、基于平板的容积计算机断层扫描（eXplore Locus Ultra 扫描仪）图像（165920 个）进行分析，这些颅骨来自 2007 年至 2008 年吉森大学医院和马尔堡大学法医系。采用相关分析进行数据描述。
无论性别，人类颅骨密度随年龄的变化都呈广泛分布。男性颅骨骨密度在其一生中保持不变，而女性颅骨骨密度从大约 20 岁开始缓慢下降。
骨密度衰减理论上仅为确定成年女性死亡年龄提供了一种新方法。由于数据的分散，在置信区间为 75%的情况下，发现了大约±18 年的精度，这在实际应用中很有限，令人遗憾。我们发现了颅骨中骨密度衰减的新性别差异，这可能对理解骨骼降解过程具有普遍意义。
