Almeida Beatriz Mouga, Silva Filipa Cortesão, Santos Ana Luísa
Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra, 3000-456, Portugal.
Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Arco da Traição, Coimbra, 3000-056, Portugal.
Int J Legal Med. 2025 Mar 14. doi: 10.1007/s00414-025-03467-5.
The patella has been used in various studies to verify its value in the estimation of biological sex. However, there is limited understanding regarding the alterations the bone undergoes when exposed to the effects of fire and how it affects sexual dimorphism. The current study aims to study the efficacy of three patella measurements, and generate an equation and cut-off points, to estimate the sex of individuals that had their patellae subjected to burning. Furthermore, the applicability of cut-off points from two previous studies was tested. Patellae (n = 32 individuals) from the sub-collection of experimentally burned skeletons at the 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection were measured with a digital calliper for their maximum height, maximum thickness, and maximum width. The sample comprises 18 females (56.2%) and 14 males (43.8%) with ages at death between 60 and 93 years (x̄ = 78.6 years). The measurements were evaluated through linear discriminant analysis for sex estimation allowing correct classifications between 68.8 and 75%. The sexual dimorphism in both burnt and unburnt patellae was studied and results were significant for maximum height and maximum width. It was concluded that sex estimation is possible in patellae that have been subjected to different degrees of burning and sexual dimorphism is maintained albeit at lower levels compared to the non-burnt patellae. This study brought light into use of experimentally burnt patellae with its possible implications for forensic investigations although further studies with larger sample sizes are needed.
髌骨已在各种研究中被用于验证其在生物性别估计中的价值。然而，对于骨骼在遭受火灾影响时所经历的变化以及这些变化如何影响性别二态性，人们的了解有限。本研究旨在研究三种髌骨测量方法的有效性，并生成一个方程和截断点，以估计髌骨遭受燃烧的个体的性别。此外，还测试了之前两项研究的截断点的适用性。使用数字卡尺对21世纪身份识别骨骼收藏中实验性燃烧骨骼子集中的髌骨（n = 32个个体）进行测量，测量其最大高度、最大厚度和最大宽度。样本包括18名女性（56.2%）和14名男性（43.8%），死亡年龄在60至93岁之间（x̄ = 78.6岁）。通过线性判别分析对测量结果进行性别估计评估，正确分类率在68.8%至75%之间。研究了燃烧和未燃烧髌骨的性别二态性，结果表明最大高度和最大宽度具有显著差异。得出的结论是，对于遭受不同程度燃烧的髌骨，性别估计是可能的，并且尽管与未燃烧髌骨相比性别二态性水平较低，但仍然存在。本研究揭示了实验性燃烧髌骨的用途及其对法医调查的可能影响，不过还需要进行更大样本量的进一步研究。
