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Forensic age prediction and age classification for critical age thresholds via 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging of the knee in the Chinese Han population

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Abstract

Objectives

To assess the performance of knee MRI for forensic age prediction and classification for 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-year thresholds.

Methods

The ossification stages of distal femoral epiphyses and proximal tibial epiphyses were assessed using an integrated staging system by Schmeling et al. and Kellinghaus et al. for knee 3.0T MRI with T1-weighted turbo spin-echo (T1-TSE) in sagittal orientation among 852 Chinese Han individuals (483 males and 369 females) aged 7–30 years. Regression models for age prediction were constructed and their performances were evaluated based on mean absolute deviation (MAD) values. In addition, the performances of age classification were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.

Results

The intra- and inter-observer agreement levels were very good (κ > 0.80). The complete fusion of those two types of epiphyses took place before 18.0 years in our study participants. The minimum MAD values were 2.51 years (distal femur) and 2.69 years (proximal tibia) in males, and 2.75 years (distal femur) and 2.87 years (proximal tibia) in females. The specificity values of constructed prediction models were all above 90% for the 12-, 14-, and 16-year thresholds, compared to the 74.8–84.6% for the 18-year threshold. Better performances of age prediction and classification were observed in males by distal femoral epiphyses.

Conclusions

Ossification stages via 3.0T MRI of the knee with T1-TSE sequence using an integrated staging system could be a reliable noninvasive method for age prediction or for age classification for 12-, 14-, and 16-year thresholds, especially in males by distal femoral epiphyses. However, assessments based on the full bony fusion of the distal femoral epiphysis and proximal tibial epiphysis seemed not reliable for age classification for the 18-year threshold in the Chinese Han population.

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Funding

This project was supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Sichuan Province of China (Grant Number: 22ZDYF1829), the Postdoctoral Research Project of Sichuan Province (Grant Number: 2021-12), the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Evidence Science (China University of Political Science and Law), Ministry of Education (Grant Number: 2021KFKT03), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 81971801, 81373252) and the Cooperation Project between North Sichuan Medical College and Local Government (Grant Number: 18SXHZ0172).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Pathology, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Dong Deng, Ting Lu, Guang-Feng Liu, Fei Fan, Meng-Jun Zhan, Lei Shi, Shuai Luo, Xing-Tao Zhang, Meng Liu, Shi-Wen Qiu, Bin Cong & Zhen-Hua Deng

  2. Department of Forensic Medicine, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, 637000, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Dong Deng

  3. Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, People’s Republic of China

    Zhao Peng

  4. Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, 637000, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Qian Chen & Tian-Wu Chen

  5. Department of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050017, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Cong

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  1. Xiao-Dong Deng
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  2. Ting Lu
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Correspondence to Bin Cong or Zhen-Hua Deng.

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All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Table 1

(DOCX 17 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 1

Eleven regression models of ossification stage scores of distal femoral epiphysis and proximal tibial epiphysis for chronological age based on the training set in males and females, respectively. (PNG 564 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 31779 kb)

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Deng, XD., Lu, T., Liu, GF. et al. Forensic age prediction and age classification for critical age thresholds via 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging of the knee in the Chinese Han population. Int J Legal Med 136, 841–852 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-022-02797-y

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