Age Estimation From the Rib by Components Method Analysis in White Males

Abstract

Changes at the sternal extremity of the fourth rib have already been established as reliable indicators of age at death. Still now, the Iscan "phase method," based on the morphologic changes at the sternal extremity of the fourth rib, is one of the best effective for age estimation at death. The present study was carried out to develop an alternative method considering the morphologic characteristics of articular surface (A), anterior/posterior walls (B), and superior/inferior edges (C) of the sternal extremity of the fourth rib. For each parameter a numerical score was assigned and some regression formulae was elaborated. The best correlation between morphologic characteristics and age was obtained through the formula Age = 10.43 (AB)(0.53). The sample consisted of sternal extremities of the fourth rib obtained at autopsy from 49 white males of known age.

Validation of the İşcan method in clinical MSCT scans specific to an Australian population

“…No measure of significance for each regression and correlation are reported. These results support those found for males (Verzeletti et al 2010), suggesting that the articular surface is the most accurate predictor of age in this population. The efficacy of this study is compromised by the small sample, over representation of individuals over the age of 51 years, and the lack of quantification of inter-and intra-observer error.…”

“…Traditional morphoscopic techniques do not readily lend themselves to rigorous statistical analysis from which quantifiable conclusions may be drawn, given that they generate qualitative rather than quantitative data (Hefner and Stephen 2012). The attribution of a numerical score, rather than a description of the appearance of a given skeletal feature, permits the development of a statistical model for the estimation of age (Verzeletti et al 2010). The use of geometric morphometric techniques as an alternative method for the quantification of shape variables has also provided a means of statistically evaluating morphological differences between individuals.…”

“…This study aimed to develop a method for the estimation of age based on the numerical quantification of the morphological appearance of the articular surface, anterior and posterior walls and margin of the fourth sternal rib end in a sample of Caucasian Italian female individuals (71 specimens ranging from 22 to 88 years of age) obtained at autopsy. The methodology of this study follows that described by Verzeletti et al (2010). A series of linear regression equations were established to estimate age based on scores obtained from the articular surface, antero/posterior walls, and rib margins (see The shape of the articular surface was most strongly correlated with age (r = 0.91), followed by the appearance of the anterior and posterior walls of the rib (r = 0.89), and the rig margin (r = 0.79).…”

Rib biomechanical properties exhibit diagnostic potential for accurate ageing in forensic investigations

“…E5 had a coefficient of determination R 2 = 0.830 and exhibited average residual error of 4.70±0.33 (SD), with a maximum of 12.57 years in one case. To put this into the forensic context and practice we have collated information for other laboratory-based age estimation methods[6,7,13,48–53] and age estimation methods based on the rib[4,5,8,11,54–57] from the literature including the present one. Comparing R 2 , which is the proportion of the variance in age that is explained by the regression model in each case and the mean residual error, E1 ranks third (see Table 5), making this, to our knowledge, the most accurate laboratory-based age estimation methods for ribs.…”

Age-at-death estimation in Caucasian females from the morphological analysis of the sternal end of the fourth rib

“…_ Is ßcan provided a full description of the characteristics of each phase and confirmed the reproducibility of the results while other studies the accuracy of the method [3][4][5][6][7]. The aim of this study is to develop a model for determining the age from morphological analysis of the sternal end of the fourth rib, alternative to the _ Is ßcan's ''phases method'', regarding a sample of Caucasian females, considering that Caucasian males were already investigated in our institution in a similar way [8].…”