ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: The nasal dimensions are important cephalometric parameters used in physicalanthropometry to distinguish different gender and groups of human population. It also used to categorize thehuman nasal morphology into five different morphological categories which include hyperleptorrhine, leptorrhine,mesorrhine, platyrrhine and hyperplatyrrhine. In this anthropometric study, the nasal morphologicalcharacteristics of the Bini children in Nigeria were evaluated and the prevalent nasal morphology of the studypopulation determined.Methodology: This study involved randomly selected 500 Bini children (comprising 250 males and 250 females)between ages 5-12 years. The nasal dimensions of each subject were measured between relevant anatomicallandmarks. These include the nasal height measured as distance between nasion and subnasale and the nasalbreadth measured as distance between the most lateral points of right and left ala of the nose using a slidingcaliper. The nasal index for each subject was calculated as nasal breadth divided by nasal height and expressedas percentage.Results: The mean nasal height for male and female Bini children was 4.58± 0.11 and 4.33 ± 0.10 while the meannasal breadth was 4.05 ± 0.12 and 3.88 ± 0.11 respectively. The mean nasal index for male subjects (90.25 ± 1.33)was also higher than for female subjects (88.65 ± 1.50). The morphological classification showed the platyrrhinenose type as the most prevalent among the male (70.0%) and female (68.0%) Bini children.Conclusion: The nasal dimensions and nasal index demonstrated prominent sexual dimorphism and the dominanceof platyrrhine nose type is the current trend in the nasal morphology of Bini children.
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: In cephalometry, parameters like the head length, head width and cephalic index arevery important in the description of human morphology, variation in different gender and races of humanpopulation and making comparison between healthy individuals and clinical patients. Furthermore, they canalso be used to categorize human head morphology into different types and to make comparative study ofdifferent human populations. This comparative study was carried out to describe the cranial morphologyamong adolescent and young adult individuals of Bini and Igbo ethnic groups in Nigeria.Methodology: This study involved 260 Bini and 245 Igbo subjects between ages 11 – 25 years. The head lengthof each subject was measured between the glabella and inion while the head breadth measured between theparietal prominences using spreading and sliding calipers. The cephalic index of each subject was calculatedas the ratio of the head breadth to it length expressed as a percentageResults: The mean cephalic indices among the two tribes were higher in males than in females in all the agegroups studied. With increasing age, the cephalic index value decreases among the Bini tribe but increasesamong the Igbo tribe. Based on the morphological classification of the cephalic index values, the brachycephalichead type was the most prevalent among both Bini (55.4%) and Igbo (66.9) tribes while the least common headtype among the Bini and Igbo tribes were hyperbrachycephalic (8.1%) and dolicephalic (0.4%) respectively.Conclusion: The cephalic index demonstrated inter-tribal variation, prominent intra-tribal sexual dimorphismand brachycephalization is the dominant trend in cranial morphology of both Bini and Igbo tribes in Nigeria.