‘Cervical vertebral metrics’ A reliable approach to forensic identification: A comprehensive review

Q3 Medicine

Translational Research in Anatomy Pub Date : 2025-03-19 DOI:10.1016/j.tria.2025.100391

Shreya , Lydia Shobha Andrade , Rajagopal K V , Vikram Palimar , Muhammad Nasir Ahmad , Vinod C. Nayak , Varun Kumar S G , Bhukya Nom Kumar Naik

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Sex and stature are the most critical factors to identify an unknown individual. In addition to the skull, pelvis, and other long bones, the vertebral column exhibits significant differences between males and females. It has been shown to have a statistically significant correlation with an individual's stature. Among the cervical vertebrae, the axis vertebra shows remarkable sexual dimorphism.

Body of the study

A comprehensive literature search was done using PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus between 1995 and 2023. The main inclusion criteria were studies on adult human cervical vertebral measurements from skeletal remains and Computed tomography images. Sixteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria from various populations estimating the sex and stature.

Conclusion

An extensive review of relevant studies has established that the axis exhibits the highest sexual dimorphism among the cervical vertebrae, followed by the atlas and the C7 vertebra. Regarding the determination of stature from the various cervical metrics, the axis vertebra significantly correlated with stature. This comprehensive study offers valuable insights into the different measurement methods utilizing cervical vertebrae for sex and stature estimation, thereby serving as a pertinent resource for subsequent anthropometric investigations about cervical vertebrae.

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“颈椎测量”是法医鉴定的可靠方法：全面回顾

性别和身材是识别未知个体的最关键因素。除了头骨、骨盆和其他长骨外，男性和女性的脊柱也有显著差异。它已被证明与个人的身材有统计学上显著的相关性。在颈椎中，椎轴表现出明显的两性二态性。在1995年至2023年间，我们使用PubMed、Web of Science、Embase和Scopus进行了全面的文献检索。主要纳入标准是对成人颈椎骨骸测量和计算机断层扫描图像的研究。16项研究符合不同人群的纳入标准，估计了性别和身高。结论大量相关研究表明，椎轴在颈椎中表现出最高的性别二态性，其次是寰椎和C7椎体。从各种颈椎指标判断身高时，椎轴与身高显著相关。这项综合研究为利用颈椎进行性别和身材估计的不同测量方法提供了有价值的见解，从而为随后的颈椎人体测量研究提供了相关的资源。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Translational Research in Anatomy Medicine-Anatomy

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

25 days

期刊介绍： Translational Research in Anatomy is an international peer-reviewed and open access journal that publishes high-quality original papers. Focusing on translational research, the journal aims to disseminate the knowledge that is gained in the basic science of anatomy and to apply it to the diagnosis and treatment of human pathology in order to improve individual patient well-being. Topics published in Translational Research in Anatomy include anatomy in all of its aspects, especially those that have application to other scientific disciplines including the health sciences: • gross anatomy • neuroanatomy • histology • immunohistochemistry • comparative anatomy • embryology • molecular biology • microscopic anatomy • forensics • imaging/radiology • medical education Priority will be given to studies that clearly articulate their relevance to the broader aspects of anatomy and how they can impact patient care.Strengthening the ties between morphological research and medicine will foster collaboration between anatomists and physicians. Therefore, Translational Research in Anatomy will serve as a platform for communication and understanding between the disciplines of anatomy and medicine and will aid in the dissemination of anatomical research. The journal accepts the following article types: 1. Review articles 2. Original research papers 3. New state-of-the-art methods of research in the field of anatomy including imaging, dissection methods, medical devices and quantitation 4. Education papers (teaching technologies/methods in medical education in anatomy) 5. Commentaries 6. Letters to the Editor 7. Selected conference papers 8. Case Reports