Morphometry of the occipital condyle and basilar process of Nigerian skulls

ABSTRACT

Background: Effective surgical approaches and conclusive forensic investigations will require a well-documented comparative data for specific regions. This study was carried out to generate Nigerian specific morphometric data for the occipital condyle and basilar process and evaluate its application in forensic and clinical anatomy using macerated skull bones. Methods: A total of 141 adult Nigerian skull bones comprising of 126 males and 15 females were used for this study. Side specific (left [L] and right [R]) morphometric measurements were taken for the occipital condyle [OC] (length, maximum and minimum width [Mx OC & MnOC width], post and anterior intercondyle distance [AICD and PICD]). OC morphology was determined by shape and analysis was carried out using the Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS IBM® version 23) t-test was used in assessing sex differences in the measured parameters with confidence level set at 95% and P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The result obtained showed an equal distribution of oval and oblong shaped OC (27% for both), with less frequent crescentic shaped OC (19.9%). The mean (± S.D) of studied parameters were; L-OC Length = 20.98 ± 1.88mm, R-OC length = 20.52 ± 1.93mm, L-MxOC width = 15.11 ± 1.53mm, R-MxOC width = 14.26 ± 1.59mm, L-MnOC width = 10.85 ± 1.23mm, R-MnOC width = 10.76 ± 1.30mm, AICD = 18.09 ± 2.15mm, PICD = 30.85 ± 2.98mm and BP length = 29.37 ± 3.85mm. The paired sample t-test showed that only the MnOC width was bilateral, while OClength and MxOC width were significantly asymmetrical (P<0.001).The t-test showed that all variables except for OC length and MnOC width were significantly larger in males (P<0.05). When the dimensions of the Nigerian skull were compared with foreign values, high racial variability was observed and we had average OC length; not very short neither long, which was relatively safe for OC resection during surgical intervention at that region. Conclusion: It could be concluded that sex, side and racial differences are observable features of the occipital condyle and its morphometric relationship to other structures are useful to forensic experts and surgeons