Sex estimation via the measurement of the seventh cervical vertebrae on Computerized Tomography images.

Abstract

Background: Sex estimation from skeletal remains is crucial for estimating an individuals biological profile. Although the pelvis and skull are most commonly used for sex estimation, other skeletal elements, e.g., the vertebrae, have reportedly demonstrated acceptable accuracy rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of using seventh cervical vertebra measurements on computed tomography images for sex estimation. Material and methods: Cervical computed tomography images of 300 female and 300 male patients (= 20 aged 60 = years) were evaluated. Sex estimation modeling was performed with eight measurements of the seventh cervical vertebrae, and indices and corpus volume obtained from the measurements. Corpus length and width, foramen vertebra length and width, corpus height, spinous process angle, and spinous process height and length of each seventh cervical vertebra were measured. Foramen vertebral index, spinous process index, and corpus volume were used as indices. The Independent Sample T test was used to compare the means of two independent groups showing normal distribution, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for data that were not normally distributed. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed using the Forward Wald approach in modeling the categorical dependent variable with independent variables. Results: According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, sex estimation from measurements was 87.7% accurate, whereas index and volume were up to 85.3% accurate. Conclusions: In conclusion, the seventh cervical vertebra is dimorphic with a high accuracy rate for the Turkish population and can be used for sex estimation.