3D Evaluation of Maxillary Sinus Using Computed Tomography: A Sexual Dimorphic Study

Abstract

Purpose. Gender determination is considered to be an important step in the reconstruction of the biological profile in forensic medicine. Maxillary sinus can be used for identification of sex when other methods are indecisive. Computed tomography (CT) provides an excellent method for examining maxillary sinuses. Hence the aim of the study was to determine the accuracy of gender determination using maxillary sinus with CT. Materials and Methods. CT images were used to measure the mediolateral, superoinferior, and anteroposterior dimensions and the volume of the maxillary sinuses in 100 patients (50 males and 50 females) to determine the gender of an individual for forensic identification. Discriminative analysis was done using the values derived and the t-test for independent samples was used to compare these values in males and females. Results. The accuracy rate was found to be 84% in males and 92% in females with the mean accuracy of 88%. Conclusion. Our study concludes that gender determination can be done using measurements of maxillary sinus through CT when other methods are unavailable. The prediction rate can be increased by including volume of the maxillary sinus.

Sexual Dimorphism by Analysis of Maxillary Sinus Dimensions in a Sample of Egyptian Population Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

“…On the other hand, our results In contrast with another study that concluded The group of female revealed greater values were statistically significant for left MS width where left side MS width can be used to identify sex (6) .Also another study stated that The left MS width was the differentiation parameter (10) . Another study Concluded that comparison maxillary sinus volume between left and right sides were not statistically significant (11) .in addition to another study reported that The right MS has been reported to be greater than the left MS in both sexes (4) . Since this agreement with study that evaluated age-correlated changes in bone architecture.…”

“…The maxillary sinus is the greatest of paranasal sinuses. The sinus starts to grow at 10 weeks of embryonic life and has an opening in the middle nasal meatus of the nasal cavity (4) . At birth it begins as a pea size and continues to grow after eruption of deciduous teeth and grows again with eruption permanent teeth and with the third molars complete eruption, the sinus pneumatization ends (4) .…”

“…It has been revealed that triangular sinuses are the most shared shape in females and males. It differs widely in size, shape, and site not only between different individuals but also between both sides of the same individuals (4) .…”

“…It has been reported that Cone beam computed tomography are brilliant imaging modality in the determination of unknown victims as they provide a precise evaluation of the paranasal sinuses and maxillofacial bones. Maxillary sinuses dimensions and volume can be measured by using CBCT and it may be valuable for supporting sex identification in forensic science (4) .…”

Utility of the morphometry of the maxillary sinuses for gender determination by using computed tomography

“…4,5 In view of that, there are a number of studies stating the importance of maxillary sinuses in forensic medicine, especially for gender determination, where the dimensions of sinuses between males and females are compared by means of various imaging methods. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The results of most of these studies suggested the utility of the maxillary sinuses in gender determination. Almost all these studies reported that the sinus measurement values (dimensions and volume) are larger in males than in females and they correlated this fact with the differences in the overall stature of males and females.…”