International Journal of Legal Medicine

, Volume 128, Issue 3, pp 509–514 | Cite as

Forensic age estimation in living individuals using 3.0T MRI of the distal femur

  • Jan Alexander Krämer
  • Sven Schmidt
  • Kai-Uwe Jürgens
  • Markus Lentschig
  • Andreas Schmeling
  • Volker Vieth
Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

To increase the reliability of forensic age estimations in living adolescents and young adults where there is no legitimation for X-ray examinations, it would be desirable to establish radiation-free imaging methods. In the present study, the ossification stage of the distal femoral epiphysis was determined retrospectively in 166 male and 124 female individuals in the age group 10 to 30 years using 3.0T MRI. When evaluating the ossification stage, a combination of the classifications proposed by Schmeling et al. and by Kellinghaus et al. was used. Within the study population, stages 3b, 3c and 4 did not occur in the male sex before the 14th birthday, although the validity of the results is distinctly limited relative to stage 3b in view of the small number of cases. In females, stages 3c and 4 did not occur before the 14th birthday. Stage 4 did not occur in males before the 18th birthday. Should this result be confirmed in future studies, there would be an additional criterion providing evidence that the age of 18 years has been completed.

Keywords

Forensic age estimation Ossification Distal femur MRI 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jan Alexander Krämer
    • 1
  • Sven Schmidt
    • 2
  • Kai-Uwe Jürgens
    • 3
  • Markus Lentschig
    • 3
  • Andreas Schmeling
    • 2
  • Volker Vieth
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Clinical RadiologyUniversity Hospital MünsterMünsterGermany
  2. 2.Institute of Legal MedicineUniversity Hospital MünsterMünsterGermany
  3. 3.ZEMODI, Center of Modern DiagnosticsBremenGermany

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