Estimation of age and sex from radiological examination of hyoid bones in Egyptians

ABSTRACT

Although cranial and pelvic bones are the preferred skeletal materials used by forensic anthropologists to assign unknown individuals to their most age and sex together with long bones. In the present study the hyoid bone was investigated as another tool for estimating age and sex especially when these skeletal remains are unavailable. There is considerable age variation in fusion of the greater cornua to the hyoid body. Although the proportion of people with bilateral fusion steadily increases with increasing age, many elderly individuals have either unilateral or bilateral nonfusion. Hyoid bones radiographs [n=130] of both sexes were examined. Their ages ranged from 15-75 years for males with mean value of 42.3 +/- 15.40 and from 16-60 for females with mean value of 39.85 +/- 12.41. The radiographs converted into digital images using a high resolution scanner and an image analysis system was used to take a series of certain measurements on each bone. In addition, the degree of fusion of the greater cornua to the hyoid bodies was recorded. The study revealed that non-fusion is more common in men than in women and that no bilateral fusion was recorded before the age of 35 years in either sex. The measurements of the right variables taken from hyoid bones are the measurements of greatest sex difference as they correctly classify sex by 81.5%