Bartolini Viola, Pinchi Vilma, Gualco Barbara, Vanin Stefano, Chiaracane Giusto, D'Elia Giovanni, Norelli Gian-Aristide, Focardi Martina
Department of Health Sciences, Section of Medical Forensic Sciences, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134, Florence, Italy.
Department of Biological Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK.
Int J Legal Med. 2018 Jan;132(1):279-288. doi: 10.1007/s00414-017-1629-z. Epub 2017 Jun 20.
Age assessment in children and young adults is a relevant forensic issue. It is requested not only in evaluating criminal responsibility in youths without proper identification documents, often in relation to age thresholds, but also for release of a residency permit, and asylum seekers of minors. The analysis of the Risser sign and the iliac crest ossification process has been proposed as a useful tool for forensic age estimation. We evaluated the applicability of three different age estimation methods on a sample of 497 pelvic radiographs of Italian individuals between 10 and 25 years of age. Each method showed high reliability for both reproducibility and repeatability. The staging technique inspired by Kreitner and Kellinghaus methods (KK-MS) is easier than the Risser method in applicability, as it is not affected by the variations of ossification. We observed that all subjects who attained stage 3c of KK-MS and 5 of Risser Fr were >14 years, suggesting the benefits of these methods for that age threshold. The applicability of the area measurement method, inspired by Cameriere's approach, ranged between 12 and 20 years, but the statistical analysis showed only a moderate correlation with age. In order to evaluate the possible use of this approach it is therefore necessary to clarify and exclude external factors influencing the parameter. In conclusion, the iliac crest ossification is of interest in age estimation for forensic purposes. The evaluation of the pelvis X-ray, in addition to the other common dental and skeletal methods, could become a useful supplementary tool in age estimation for the 14 year threshold in order to fulfill forensic-level requirements.
儿童和青年的年龄评估是一个相关的法医问题。不仅在评估没有适当身份证件的青少年的刑事责任时（通常与年龄阈值有关）需要进行年龄评估，而且在发放居留许可以及对未成年寻求庇护者进行评估时也需要。有人提出分析Risser征和髂嵴骨化过程是法医年龄估计的一种有用工具。我们在497例年龄在10至25岁之间的意大利人的骨盆X光片样本上评估了三种不同年龄估计方法的适用性。每种方法在可重复性和重复性方面都显示出高可靠性。受Kreitner和Kellinghaus方法启发的分期技术（KK-MS）在适用性上比Risser方法更容易，因为它不受骨化变化的影响。我们观察到，所有达到KK-MS 3c期和Risser Fr 5期的受试者都大于14岁，这表明这些方法在该年龄阈值方面的优势。受Cameriere方法启发的面积测量方法的适用范围在12至20岁之间，但统计分析显示与年龄只有中等相关性。因此，为了评估这种方法的可能用途，有必要澄清并排除影响该参数的外部因素。总之，髂嵴骨化在法医年龄估计中具有重要意义。除了其他常见的牙齿和骨骼方法外，骨盆X光片评估可能成为14岁年龄阈值的年龄估计中的一种有用补充工具，以满足法医层面的要求。
