Sexual dimorphism through the study of atlas vertebra in the Brazilian population

Abstract

Background: Sex determination by linear measurements of the bones is widely used because of the several kinds of death in which the corpses can be damaged. Aim: The aim of this study was to establish a logit for sexual dimorphism through measurements of the atlas vertebra. Settings and Design: The principle sample was composed of 191 skeletons belonging to the Forensic Physical Anthropology Laboratory Prof. Eduardo Daruge. However, first, a calibration with other 25 skeletons was carried out. Materials and Methods: Using a digital caliper, linear measurements were made of the anteroposterior diameter of the atlas vertebra (variable A), anteroposterior diameter of the rachidian canal (variable B), transverse diameter of the rachidian canal (variable C), and maximum transverse diameter of the atlas vertebra (variable D). Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analyzed using IBM ® SPSS ® 25 Statistics program. Results: The mean measurements of all four variables for men were higher than that for women, being observed that variable D obtained the major discrepancy between the sexes. Considering both sexes, the variable C obtained the best results of standard deviation, while the variable D achieved the worse results. The t -test observed acceptance about hypothesis that exists differences between the gender and all four measures assessed. The logit developed is sex = −24.970 + 0.183 × A + 0.230 × D, in which “A” represents anteroposterior diameter of the atlas and “D” represents the maximum transverse diameter of the atlas. Conclusion: This model results in 81.2% accuracy, 85.5% sensitivity, and 75.3% specificity.

Sex estimation using the human vertebra: a systematic review

“…Briefly, all of the articles were published within the year 2008 until 2020, which comprised studies of vertebrae by 3D images or dry bones for estimation of sex. Based on bones types, seven studies were focused on cervical vertebrae (Marlow and Pastor 2011;Bethard and Seet 2013;Gama et al 2015;Torimitsu et al 2016;Kaeswaren and Hackman 2019;Padovan et al 2019;Rozendaal et al 2020), two studies on thoracic vertebrae (Yu et al 2008;Hou et al 2012) and seven studies on lumbar vertebrae (Zheng et al 2012;Ostrofsky and Churchill 2015;Ramadan et al 2017;Oura et al 2018;Decker et al 2019;Azofra-Monge and Alemán Aguilera 2020;Suwanlikhid et al 2020). Two studies were done on thoracic and lumbar vertebrae (El Dine and El Shafei 2015;Garoufi et al 2020), and one study on cervical and thoracic vertebrae (Amores et al 2014).…”

“…In the review, nine studies used radiologic images to analyse the bones (Yu et al 2008;Zheng et al 2012;Hou et al 2012;El Dine and El Shafei 2015;Torimitsu et al 2016;Ramadan et al 2017;Oura et al 2018;Decker et al 2019;Garoufi et al 2020), whilst ten studies were conducted on dry bones (Marlow and Pastor 2011;Bethard and Seet 2013;Amores et al 2014;Gama et al 2015;Ostrofsky and Churchill 2015;Kaeswaren and Hackman 2019;Padovan et al 2019;Azofra-Monge and Alemán Aguilera 2020;Suwanlikhid et al 2020;Rozendaal et al 2020). All of the studies used various experimental designs on several populations by conventional morphometric method, and were analysed by either discriminant function or regression analysis.…”

“…A total eight articles had focused on cervical vertebrae (Marlow and Pastor 2011;Bethard and Seet 2013;Amores et al 2014;Gama et al 2015;Torimitsu et al 2016;Kaeswaren and Hackman 2019;Padovan et al 2019;Rozendaal et al 2020). Most metric studies of sexual dimorphism were conducted on the second cervical (C2) vertebra, except for one study that emphasised on the first cervical (C1) vertebra (Padovan et al 2019).…”

“…Vertebral column has been used in forensic investigation due to its comparative thickness and capacity in resisting mechanical forces. In several cases, vertebral column was considered to be a well-preserved bone element (Hora and Sládek 2018;Padovan et al 2019), as it usually survive in relatively harsh conditions such as bushfire, mass disaster and other natural disruption (Blau and Briggs 2011).…”

“…Several studies have reported sexual dimorphism in different vertebrae based on vertebral size and shape, which contributed to the development of body stature and expanded development in vertebral transverse diameter (Taylor and Twomey 1984;Marlow and Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin 2016;Torimitsu et al 2016). Individual bones have been studied for evaluation of sexual dimorphism including the cervical (Marlow and Pastor 2011;Bethard and Seet 2013;Amores et al 2014;Torimitsu et al 2016;Kaeswaren and Hackman 2019;Padovan et al 2019;Rozendaal et al 2020), thoracic (Yu et al 2008;Hou et al 2012;El Dine and El Shafei 2015) and lumbar vertebrae by conventional metric and advanced morphological analyses (Zheng et al 2012;Ostrofsky and Churchill 2015;El Dine and El Shafei 2015;Ramadan et al 2017;Oura et al 2018;Decker et al 2019; Azofra-Monge and Alemán Aguilera 2020; Suwanlikhid et al 2020).…”