Sex determination of a Tunisian population by CT scan analysis of the skull.

It is widely accepted that the estimation of biological attributes in the human skeleton is more accurate when population-specific standards are applied. With the shortage of such data for contemporary North African populations, it is duly required to establish population-specific standards. We present here the first craniometric standards for sex determination of a contemporary Tunisian population. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between sex and metric parameters of the skull in this population using CT scan analysis and to generate proper reliable standards for sex determination of a complete or fragmented skull. The study sample comprised cranial multislice computed tomography scans of 510 individuals equally distributed by sex. ASIRTM software in a General ElectricTM workstation was used to position 37 landmarks along the volume-rendered images and the multiplanar slices, defining 27 inter-landmark distances. Frontal and parietal bone thickness was also measured for each case. The data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistics and logistic regression with cross-validation of classification results. All of the measurements were sexually dimorphic with male values being higher than female values. A nine-variable model achieved the maximum classification accuracy of 90% with -2.9% sex bias and a six-variable model yielded 85.9% sexing accuracy with -0.97% sex bias. We conclude that the skull is highly dimorphic and represents a reliable bone for sex determination in contemporary Tunisian individuals.

[Percutaneous vertebroplasty for pain relief in patients with osteoporotic spine fractures]. / Efficacité antalgique de la vertébroplastie percutanée dans les fractures vertébrales ostéoporotiques.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is an interventional radiology technique where pathological vertebral bodies are filled with acrylic cement. This method is used to strengthen the vertebral body and reduce pain in certain diseases involving the vertebrae such as osteoporosis. AIM: To evaluated PVP in symptomatic osteoporotic vertebral fractures after failure of conservative management. METHODS: Between November 2008 to December 2009, PVP was performed for osteoporotic vertebral fractures i 12 consecutive patients in a single institution. Medium term (3 days and 15 days post PVP) and long term follow up (1 month and 3 months post PVP) consisted in the evaluation of residual or secondary pain using Huskisson's visual analogue scale. RESULTS: A total of 20 vertebrae were treated. Mean follow up was 80 days (30-90 days). Significant symptomatic improvement (p=0.002) was noted with pre PVP pain score of 7.4 (±1.6 ), 3 days post PVP score of 4.1 (±2.1), 15 days post PVP score of 1.8 (±1.1), 1 month post PVP score of 1.22 (±1.06) and 3 months post score of 1.4 (±1.14). CONCLUSION: PVP appears to be an effective technique in the treatment of symptomatic osteoporotic vertebral fractures with approximately 94% of satisfactory results in the short and medium term period.