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Determination of sex on the basis of hyoid bone measurements in a Japanese population using multidetector computed tomography

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Abstract

Sex determination for unidentified human remains is important because the determined sex is usually used as a foundation for the estimation of other biological profiles. This study investigated the sexual dimorphism of the adult hyoid bone and developed discriminant equations to accurately estimate sex in a contemporary Japanese population using measurements on two-dimensional computed tomography (CT) images. The study sample comprised 280 cadavers (140 males, 140 females) of known age and sex that underwent postmortem CT and subsequent forensic autopsy. In accordance with previous studies, seven measurements were performed using two-dimensional CT reconstructed images. Most measurements of males were significantly greater than those of females. The perpendicular length from the most anterior edge of the hyoid body to the line that connects the most distal points of the greater horns of the hyoid and the linear distance between the most lateral edges of the hyoid body most significantly contributed to sex determination. This study demonstrated that discriminant functions on the basis of three measurements provided higher rates of accurate sex classification (93.3–94.6%) than univariate functions. Therefore, the hyoid bone is highly sexually dimorphic in the contemporary Japanese population and may be useful in forensic contexts for sex determination with a high level of accuracy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Suguru Torimitsu, Yohsuke Makino, Go Inokuchi, Ayumi Motomura, Fumiko Chiba & Hirotaro Iwase

  2. Education and Research Center of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Suguru Torimitsu, Yohsuke Makino, Hisako Saitoh, Namiko Ishii, Daisuke Yajima, Go Inokuchi, Ayumi Motomura, Fumiko Chiba, Rutsuko Yamaguchi, Yumi Hoshioka & Hirotaro Iwase

Authors
  1. Suguru Torimitsu
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  2. Yohsuke Makino
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  3. Hisako Saitoh
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  4. Namiko Ishii
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  5. Daisuke Yajima
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  6. Go Inokuchi
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  7. Ayumi Motomura
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  8. Fumiko Chiba
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  9. Rutsuko Yamaguchi
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  10. Yumi Hoshioka
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  11. Hirotaro Iwase
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Correspondence to Suguru Torimitsu.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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This study complies with the current laws of the country in which it was performed.

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Torimitsu, S., Makino, Y., Saitoh, H. et al. Determination of sex on the basis of hyoid bone measurements in a Japanese population using multidetector computed tomography. Int J Legal Med 132, 907–914 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1728-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1728-x

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