Correlation of Posterior Curve Length of Sternum and Stature: A Postmortem Study in Delhi Population

Abstract

Background:The primary characteristics to establish the identification of an individual are sex, age, and stature [1]. Determination of stature is easy if a complete body or the entire skeleton is found. When only some parts of the body or skeleton are available, it is necessary to have different formulae for determination of stature from their osteometric measurements. The present study aims to assess the stature of an individual from his or her sternum with the help of Posterior Curve Length (PCL). Methods:The study was conducted on 100 cadavers, including 50 females and 50 males, died 18 years or older age. The cases were referred for medico-legal postmortem examination to the Department of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. Sternum samples were obtained during autopsy (as fresh sternum) and after removal of muscular coverings, cleaned and dried at room temperature (as dry sternum) for the study. PCL was measured and linear regression was used to recognize sternum correlation with stature. Results:In our study which was conducted on fresh and dry samples of sternum, the stature can be estimated by 68% accuracy with linear regression equation of Y=91.51+3.5 (Posterior Curve Length of fresh sternum) with standard error±3.5 cm and correlation coefficient of 0.872. Also the stature can be estimated through Y=96.1+3.4 (Posterior Curve Length of dry sternum) with standard error of ±3.9 cm and correlation coefficient of 0.610. Conclusion:From the present study we found some synergistic factors which are helpful for estimation of stature from respective PCL of sternum which clearly shows that sample of sternum obtained from decomposed body, or in cases where long bones are missing, PCL of sternum acts as an alternative to estimate stature in Delhi population.

Correlation between various Measurements of Sternum with Stature - An Autopsy based Study

“…The study population, sample size and mean length of cadaver (Stature) observed in the other Indian studies is charted in Table 3. The mean length of male cadavers observed by Singh J et al 12 , Menezes RG et al 10,11 , Ranjith Raj VP et al 14 and Saraf A et al 15 is comparatively on the higher side than that observed by Tumram NK et al 16 , Baraw R et al 17 and in the present study. The mean length of female cadavers is observed to be relatively similar in all the studies except that of Saraf A et al 15 (Table 3).…”

“…They concluded that the length of the sternum is a strong correlating factor to the stature of South Indian adolescent male population and it is useful for anthropologists and medico-legal experts for stature estimation. Baraw R et al 17 and Ranjith Raj VP et al 14 observed strong correlation coefficients in their study while in both the studies the sternal measurements were taken including the xiphoid process which has high variability in its length. 13 However, Marinho Let al 19 reported a correlation of 0.329 on fresh sterna sample in a male which also includes the xiphoid process.…”

“…However, the accuracy of prediction is higher among females compared to males [R2=41% vs 17%]. The PCL of the sternum showed correlation coefficient of 0.424 in males and 0.628 in females, it was 0.872 in the study of Baraw R et al 17 including the xiphoid process (Table 4). Overall all the sternal lengths display relatively moderate correlation coefficients with stature and relatively high standard errors of estimate in regression analysis (Table 2).…”

“…Baraw R et al 17 in their study measured PCL of the sternum in fresh and dry samples of the sternum and observed correlation coefficient of 0.872 and 0.610 respectively. They concluded that PCL of sternum acts as an alternative to estimate stature in Delhi population.…”