Macroscopic Cranial Suture Closure in An Adult Population: Is It Reliable for Estimating Age?

Abstract

Background:- Age estimation is one of the important parameters for estimation of biological profile of an individual. Generally speaking, estimation of age of an individual whether living or dead is very important in Medicolegal and forensic scenario. The objective of the present study was to observe the chronology and pattern of union of cranial sutures namely coronal and lambdoid and to find out the relationship between closure of cranial suture and age of the deceased. An attempt was also made to see the applicability of Acsadi and Nemeskeri method in an Indian population. A total of 193 adult calvaria (133 males and 60 females) were studied from the autopsy cases. The extent of obliteration was studied ectocranially and endocranially in the two main sutures of the calvarium i.e. coronal and lambdoid. Results:- The results indicate that a strong positive correlation of ectocranial with endocranial suture closure is found in the age group of 30-39 years for right coronal, left coronal, while age group of 60-69 years shows a strong positive correlation for lambdoid sutures. This has also been confirmed in the study that the cranial suture obliteration starts endocranially and proceeds towards ectocranial surface. Statistically insignificant sex differences exist in suture closure. Conclusion:- The coronal and lambdoid sutures were closed in the age group of above 70 years with mean values of 3.54 for coronal and 3.7 for lambdoid suture. Acsadi and Nemeskeri’s method was found to be applicable to the Indian population for determination of age from cranial sutures.