Effect of fusion status of sternum in stature estimation - A study from South India.

Forensic anthropologists examine and identify skeletal, dismembered and commingled remains in a legal context to establish the biological profile of the deceased. Stature estimation is one of the important parameters in establishing the biological profile. The present study is planned to derive regression models for stature estimation from sternal measurements. Various factors are likely to affect stature estimation in forensic investigations. Since, none of the previous researchers have studied the effect of fusion status on stature estimation from sternum and its segments, the present study attempts to find if the fusion status of the sternum affect its reliability and accuracy in stature estimation. The sample of the present study consisted of 117 sterna that were obtained from autopsied bodies. Five measurements i.e. Length of manubrium (M), length of mesosternum (B), combined length of manusbrium and mesosternum and the (M + B), width at first sternabrae (S1) and width of 3rd sternabrae (S3) were taken on the autopsied sterna. The sterna were classified as fused (both manubriosternal and xiphisternal joints were fused), partly fused (only one of the manubriosternal or xiphisternal joints was fused) and not fused (both manubriosternal and xiphisternal joints were not fused). Regression models were derived using statistical methods. All the sternal measurements show a positive however, a weak correlation with stature. Thus, it can be concluded that the accuracy and reliability of stature estimation from sternum and its segments is quite low in practical situations. Among the sterna classified based on the fusion status, the length measurements of completely fused sterna show significant correlation with the stature. None of the other sternal measurements on the non-fused or partly fused sterna show statistically significant correlation with stature. The present study concludes that the fusion status of the sternum is likely to affect the reliability and accuracy in estimation of stature. The findings of this study however, should be considered 'preliminary' until they are corroborated by similar studies based on larger samples from different populations.

Osteometric analysis for sexing of modern sternum - an autopsy study from South India.

Estimation of sex is considered as one of the essential parameters in forensic anthropology and requires foremost attention in the analysis of commingled and unidentified remains. In India, there is a paucity of population specific morphometric standards for identifying sex from unknown human remains in different population groups. The present research is an osteometric analysis to study the sexual dimorphism of the sternum of South Indian origin using statistical considerations. The study sample constituted of adult autopsied sternums of known age and sex. Five linear measurements (length of the manubrium, mesosternum, manubrium and mesosternum together, and width at 1st and at 3rd sternebra) were examined during the study. Three indices (manubrio-corpus Index, ratio of the length of the mesosternum and manubrium, and sternubrial-width index) were computed from the length and width measurements of the sternum. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS computer software and Student's t-test was applied to find the sex differences in these variables. While statistically significant sex differences were observed for all the five linear measurements of the sternum, none of the sternal indices showed statistically significant sex differences. Discriminant function and logistic regression analysis were performed to derive the predicting models for estimation of sex from the different variables. The predictability of sternal measurements in sexing using univariate models ranged between 67.5% for the width at 3rd sternebra and 74.4% for the combined length of manubrium and mesosternum. The classification accuracy rates of sternal measurements were observed to be higher when multivariate analysis was performed. Length of manubrium and mesosternum together along with width at 1st sternebra yielded maximum accuracy of 79.5% (discriminant function analysis) and 81.2% (logistic regression analysis) in sexing of male and female sternum. The present research concludes that the application of sternum in sex estimation should be restricted to cases when other more reliable bones for sexing are not available to the investigators.

Accidental strangulation by a hot belt: an occupational medico-legal case report.

Death due to strangulation is generally considered homicidal unless proved otherwise. Here a case of accidental strangulation by a faulty machine is presented and discussed where the deceased was strangled by a heated rubber belt of a rice mill machine. The ligature mark was an assortment of abrasion and dermo-epidermal burns. The term "thermal ligature strangulation" is proposed for such an occurrence.

Postmortem vitreous chemistry--an evaluation of sodium, potassium and chloride levels in estimation of time since death (during the first 36 h after death).

Estimation of time since death is a paramount medico-legal issue in any postmortem examination. The present study is intended to study the correlation between postmortem interval and vitreous humor chemistry for sodium, potassium, and chlorides. The study is aimed to find male-female differences and differences between right and left eyes in vitreous chemistry. The vitreous humor samples were collected in 114 autopsies conducted in the study center and analyzed biochemically. All the cases where exact time of death was known and where the time since death ranged between 0 and 36 h were included in the study. Data obtained was analyzed statistically using spss version 11.0. The present research did not find a significant correlation between vitreous chemistry and postmortem interval. The differences in vitreous sodium, potassium, chloride levels and the sodium potassium ratio among males and females and between right and left eyes were not found to be statistically significant.

Estimation of age from human sternum: an autopsy study on a sample from South India.

Age estimation is one of the main parameters in the evaluation of skeletal remains in forensic anthropology casework. The present investigation is an attempt to study the fusion of manubrium and xiphoid process with mesosternum in 118 sterna (67 males and 51 females) of known age obtained during autopsy in South Indian population. The male samples were aged between 25 and 74 years and the females between 20 and 80 years. The fusion is studied to derive standards for the estimation of age from sternum. The results indicate that, with advancing age, the proportion of sternum with fusion of manubrio-mesosternal and mesosterno-xiphisternal junctions increases in males and females. A larger proportion of sterna showed fusion of mesosterno-xiphisternal junction than manubrio-mesosternal junction in different age groups. Fusion of manubrio-mesosternal and mesosterno-xiphisternal junctions was proportionately commoner in males than females. None of the sterna aged below 30 years showed fusion of mesosterno-xiphisternal junction. Nonfusion of mesosterno-xiphisternal junction was reported till the age of 48 years in males and 46 years in females. Manubrio-mesosternal junction was observed to be very variable with regard to fusion status as the joint remained unfused even in the elderly ages. Based on the variability of the fusion of manubrio-mesosternal and mesosterno-xiphisternal junctions observed in the study, it can be concluded that the sternum alone is not reliable for estimation of age in South Indian population.