Sternum as an indicator for sex and age estimation using multidetector computed tomography in an Egyptian population

Objectives: Introducing advanced radiographic techniques, like CT, in the field of forensic human identification is crucial. Sex and age are important biological attributes to be estimated during forensic identification process. The diagnostic value of sternum as an indicator for accurate sex and age estimation for an Egyptian population is still questionable. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the validity of sex estimation using sternal metric measurements and age estimation using fusion of manubrio-sternal joint (MSJ) and xiphi-sternal joint (XSJ) on MDCT images of a sample of Egyptian population. Materials and methods: For sex estimation, a total of 165 MDCT images were assessed. Five sternal measurements were assessed on 88 MDCT images of known sex to develop a logistic regression equation which was then tested for its validity on 77 MDCT images of unknown sex. For age estimation, 88 MDCT images of known age were assessed for MSJ and XSJ fusion stages. Logistic regression analysis was done to denote the accuracy of estimating age (above or below 45 years) for both sex-specific and pooled-sex samples. Results: For sex estimation, validity of logistic regression equation was as follows: sensitivity (85.7%), specificity (90.5%), and accuracy (88.3%). As regards to age, MSJ and XSJ fusions were highly variable and overall logistic regression results demonstrated low accuracy rate. Conclusion: We concluded that sternal measurements assessed using MDCT may represent a valid metric method for sex estimation in Egyptian population. On the other hand, MSJ and XSJ fusion stages were of limited value for age estimation.