Ekizoglu Oguzhan, Hocaoglu Elif, Inci Ercan, Karaman Gokce, Garcia-Donas Julieta, Kranioti Elena, Moghaddam Negahnaz, Grabherr Silke
Department of Forensic Medicine, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Int J Legal Med. 2021 Sep;135(5):1953-1964. doi: 10.1007/s00414-021-02510-5. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
Sex estimation from skeletal remains is crucial for the estimation of the biological profile of an individual. Although the most commonly used bones for means of sex estimation are the pelvis and the skull, research has shown that acceptable accuracy rates might be achieved by using other skeletal elements such as vertebrae. This study aims to contribute to the development of sex estimation standards from a Turkish population through the examination of CT scans from the seven cervical vertebrae. A total of 294 individuals were included in this study. The CT scans were obtained from patients attending the Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital (Turkey) and the data was collected retrospectively by virtually taking measurements from each cervical vertebrae. The full database was divided into a training set (N = 210) and a validation set (N = 84) to test the fit of the models. Observer error was assessed through technical error of measurement and sex differences were explored using parametric and non-parametric approaches. Logistic regression was applied in order to explore different combinations of vertebral parameters. The results showed low intra- and inter-observer errors. All parameters presented statistically significant differences between the sexes and a total of 15 univariate and multivariate models were generated producing accuracies ranging from a minimum of 83.30% to a maximum of 91.40% for a model including three parameters collected from four vertebrae. This study presents a virtual method using cervical vertebrae for sex estimation on the Turkish population providing error rates comparable to other metric studies conducted on the postcranial skeleton. The presented results contribute not only to the development of population-specific standards but also to the generation of virtual methods that can be tested, validated, and further examined in future forensic cases.
从骨骼遗骸估计性别对于确定个体的生物学特征至关重要。尽管用于性别估计最常用的骨骼是骨盆和颅骨，但研究表明，使用其他骨骼元素（如椎骨）也可能达到可接受的准确率。本研究旨在通过对七块颈椎的CT扫描检查，为制定土耳其人群的性别估计标准做出贡献。本研究共纳入294名个体。CT扫描数据来自土耳其巴基尔柯伊培训与研究医院的患者，通过对每块颈椎进行虚拟测量，回顾性收集数据。完整数据库被分为训练集（N = 210）和验证集（N = 84），以测试模型的拟合度。通过测量技术误差评估观察者误差，并使用参数和非参数方法探索性别差异。应用逻辑回归来探索椎骨参数的不同组合。结果显示观察者内和观察者间误差较低。所有参数在性别之间均呈现出统计学上的显著差异，共生成了15个单变量和多变量模型，对于一个包含从四块椎骨收集的三个参数的模型，准确率范围从最低83.30%到最高91.40%。本研究提出了一种利用颈椎对土耳其人群进行性别估计的虚拟方法，其误差率与对颅后骨骼进行的其他测量研究相当。所呈现的结果不仅有助于制定特定人群的标准，还有助于生成可在未来法医案件中进行测试、验证和进一步检验的虚拟方法。
