Orbital Dimensions and Orbital Index: A Measurement Study on South Indian Dry Skulls

Abstract

Background: The human orbit is a complex anatomic region, which plays predominant role in the evaluation of craniofacial complex. The bony orbit which lodges the visual apparatus is important not only for anatomists but also for ophthalmologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons and forensic experts. The objectives of the present study are to provide the normal reference orbital parameters for the South Indian population. Materials and Methods: The study was done on 200 skulls (105 males and 95 females). The orbital height (Ht) and breadth (Br) were measured by using manual vernier caliper. Orbital index was calculated by using the formula Ht /Br x 100. All the data obtained were tabulated and analysed statistically by computing descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and range. Mann-Whitney test was done to find out the statistical significance of all parameters of orbits, with respect to gender and side (right and left side). Results: The results showed that the height and breadth were significantly larger in males than in females. There were no significant differences in height and breadth between the right and left side orbits. There was no significant difference in OI between the genders and also sides. According to the OI, the studied group of Indian population comes under Mesoseme category. Conclusion: This study provides useful baseline orbital morphometric data of south Indian population, which are very important during plastic surgery, maxillofacial and neurosurgeries and also in the forensic research.

A Geometric Morphometrics Approach for Sex Estimation Based on the Orbital Region of Human Skulls from Bosnian Population

“…To estimate sex based on the orbit, some authors used the orbital index calculation. A significantly higher orbital index in females than in males was found in the study of Ezeuko et al [40] and Ebeye and Otikpo [41] which was in contrast with the findings of Mekala et al [42]. According to the study of Kaplanoglu et al [43], orbital diameters were larger in men than in women.…”

Craniometric study of the Orbital Index in brazilian skulls

“…The orbital measurements of an individual may vary based on sex and ancestry [10,[18][19][20][21]. In 2014, Indian researchers [18] investigated the orbital measurements of 200 human dry skulls (130 males and 70 females) from southern India, one of the most mixed population in the world.…”

“…Orbits are conical cavities of the facial skeleton located at both sides of the sagittal plane and composed of the maxillary, zygomatic, lacrimal, palatine, frontal, ethmoidal and sphenoidal bones [2,5,7]. The orbital architecture has been used for estimation of human ancestry and sex for over 100 years [5,8,9].…”