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Sex estimation using orbital measurements in the Croatian population

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the sexual dimorphism of orbital measurements in the Croatian population using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) images. We have retrospectively taken 414 head CT scans of adults from Croatian clinical hospitals in Split and Zagreb (214 males and 200 females) with slice thickness < 1 mm and no pathological or traumatic changes that could affect the measurements. DICOM files were imported into Stratovan Checkpoint Software and viewed in 2D and 3D using semi-transparent 3D volume rendering. Eight standard measurements were calculated based on twelve orbital landmarks (six paired). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore sexual and regional differences, and linear discriminant analysis was used to develop sex classification models. The PCA showed separation based on sex and region, and additional analysis demonstrated that females and males in Split and Zagreb differed in four orbital measurements (P ≤ 0.001). Only those measurements that did not show regional differences were further analyzed, and all showed statistically significant sexual dimorphism. The accuracy of univariate functions for sex estimation ranged from 53.43 to 71.88%, and for multivariate function, the accuracy was 73.45%. The orbital measurements of the Croatian population showed restricted forensic significance for sex classification. On the other hand, we have shown that they can have a potential for exploring the inter- and intra-population differences.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank David Žižić for valuable advice about the manuscript style and proofreading.

Funding

This study was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, Installation Research Project no. HRZZ-UIP-2020–02-7331—Forensic identification of human remains using MSCT image analysis (CTforID).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Elvira Krešić & Mislav Čavka

  2. University Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Split, Split, Croatia

    Željana Bašić, Ivan Jerković & Ivana Kružić

  3. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Igor Erjavec

Authors
  1. Elvira Krešić
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  2. Željana Bašić
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  3. Ivan Jerković
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  4. Ivana Kružić
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  5. Mislav Čavka
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  6. Igor Erjavec
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Contributions

EK, ŽB, IJ, IK, MČ, and IJ participated in study design and interpretation of data. EK performed measuring and IJ statistical analysis. EK, ŽB, IJ, and IK drafted the manuscript. EK, ŽB, IJ, IK, MČ, and IJ participated in analysis and interpretation of data, revised the manuscript, and gave the final approval of version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Željana Bašić.

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Ethics approval

Approved by the ethical committees of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb (class, 8.1–21/216–3; number, 02/21 AG.), University Hospital Centre Split (class, 500–03/17–01/56; number, 2181–147-01/06/M.S.-17–2), and University Department of Forensic Sciences (class, 024–04/17–03/00026; number, 2181–227-05–12-17–0003).

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Krešić, E., Bašić, Ž., Jerković, I. et al. Sex estimation using orbital measurements in the Croatian population. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 19, 303–309 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-022-00528-8

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