{"title":"Xiphoid Size and Gender Differences: An Anatomical Study","authors":"Alex, E. Manche, Carmel Grima, L. Camilleri","doi":"10.37532/1308-4038.14(5).128-129","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Several studies have documented anatomical variations of the sternum. Because of its central role as an anchor of various abdominal muscles we have investigated a possible correlation between xiphoid length and body habitus indices, in both males and females. Method: Measurements of sternal length were obtained prior to median sternotomy during cardiac surgery. Body Surface Area (BSA) was calculated from height and weight, using standard tables. A xiphoid 1cm or less in length was considered vestigial. Results: The xiphoid was significantly longer in males. There was a positive significant correlation between xiphoid length and patient height and BSA in males, but not in females. Vestigial xiphoid was significantly commoner in females. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a marked gender difference in xiphoid morphology, with proportional scaling only exhibited in males. The absence of this scaling in females suggests an alternative mechanism behind vestigial xiphoid.","PeriodicalId":94045,"journal":{"name":"International journal of cadaveric studies and anatomical variations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International journal of cadaveric studies and anatomical variations","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.37532/1308-4038.14(5).128-129","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Background: Several studies have documented anatomical variations of the sternum. Because of its central role as an anchor of various abdominal muscles we have investigated a possible correlation between xiphoid length and body habitus indices, in both males and females. Method: Measurements of sternal length were obtained prior to median sternotomy during cardiac surgery. Body Surface Area (BSA) was calculated from height and weight, using standard tables. A xiphoid 1cm or less in length was considered vestigial. Results: The xiphoid was significantly longer in males. There was a positive significant correlation between xiphoid length and patient height and BSA in males, but not in females. Vestigial xiphoid was significantly commoner in females. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a marked gender difference in xiphoid morphology, with proportional scaling only exhibited in males. The absence of this scaling in females suggests an alternative mechanism behind vestigial xiphoid.