Age estimation by evaluating median palatine suture closure using postmortem CT.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Radiology
• Anatomical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate age estimation is crucial in forensic investigations.
• Assessing skeletal maturity and degenerative changes are common methods.
• Median palatine suture (MP) closure offers a potential indicator for age estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an age-estimation formula based on median palatine suture (MP) closure.
• To evaluate the utility of postmortem computed tomographic (PMCT) images for this purpose.
• To correlate MP suture closure with chronological age in a Japanese population.

Main Methods:

• Examined PMCT images of 634 Japanese subjects with known age and sex.
• Measured and scored the suture closure of the MP, anterior median palatine suture (AMP), and posterior median palatine suture (PMP).
• Performed linear regression analysis to develop an age-estimation formula using the suture closure score (SCS).

Main Results:

• SCS of MP, AMP, and PMP showed significant correlation with age (p < 0.001).
• MP exhibited the highest correlation coefficients (0.760 male, 0.803 female, 0.779 total).
• Developed regression formulas for age estimation based on MP closure, with SEE ranging from 14.12 to 14.87 years. Validation showed 72% of subjects within estimated age ± SEE.

Conclusions:

• An age-estimation formula using PMCT-based MP suture closure is a potentially useful tool.
• This method can aid in estimating the age of unidentified individuals.
• The findings support the use of MP closure in forensic age assessment.