Radiographic fetal osteometry: Approach on age estimation for the portuguese population

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe estimation of gestational age (GA) on fetal remains can be an important forensic issue. Forensic specialists usually use reference tables and regression equations derived from reference collections, which are quite rare in what fetuses are concerned. Since these tools are mostly grounded on ultrasonographic measurements, which are known to differ from real bones measurements or are based on ancient literature, this study aimed the construction of tables and regression equations for the Portuguese population on the basis of diaphyseal bone length measurements (femur, tibia and humerus) of 100 fetuses of known GA, using post-mortem radiographs. There is a strong correlation between the longitudinal length of studied bones and GA; the femur exhibits the strongest correlation (r = 0.969; p = 0.000), followed by the tibia (r = 0.966; p = 0.000) and the humerus (r = 0.963; p = 0.000). Therefore it was possible to obtain regression equations and to build tables with reference values for each of the diaphysis analyzed.

A method for estimating gestational age of fetal remains based on long bone lengths

“…All results are epitomized in Table 11. [3,4] published new references and the same was done by us [7], on the basis of a smaller sample and based in less diaphysis.…”

“…The development of methods for the appropriate study of skeletal remains of deceased fetuses and newborns has been fraught by the shortage of identified osteological collections [1]. Despite this limitation, several studies have attempted to provide reliable methods that allow the construction of the biological profile of fetuses [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…Frequently, estimated age (which corresponds to gestational age [GA]) in fetal remains through anthropological examination is the single obtainable parameter of the biological profile [1,15,18]. Age of fetal human skeletal remains has been recurrently estimated from long bone diaphyseal length, using different empirical approaches [2,4,7].…”

Fetal age at death estimation on dry bone: testing the applicability of equations developed on a radiographic sample

“…After Scammon and Chalkins, the interest in fetal growth and aging waned until the 1960's. Since then, several studies have established the strong association between gestational age and the diaphyseal length of long bones (Adalian et al, 2001;Carneiro et al 2013Carneiro et al , 2016Chávez-Martínez, Ortega-Palma, Castrejon Caballero, Arteaga-Martínez, 2016;Fazekas and Kósa, 1978;Jeanty, Kirkpatrick, Dramaix-Wilmet & Struyven, 1981;Olivier & Pineau, 1960;Piercecchi-Marti et al, 2002;Scheuer et al, 1980;Olsen et al, 2002).…”

“…In clinical or epidemiological settings, age estimates of fetuses are commonly made in utero using ultrasound measurements (Butt & Lim, 2014) but, in forensic or bioarcheological contexts, fetal growth research and evaluation of gestational age has been hindered by the scarcity of osteological fetal collections (Fazekas & Kósa, 1978;Kósa, 2000). Notwithstanding, some studies have been conducted in the medico-legal area, either by making measurements directly in fresh bone (Piercecchi-Marti et al, 2002), dry bone (Scheuer & Black, 2000), or using medical imaging (Warren, 1999;Adalian et al, 2001;Piercecchi-Marti et al, 2002;Olsen et al, 2002;Carneiro et al, 2013;Gilbert-Barness & Dedich-Spicer, 2004). Fazekas and Kósa's study (1978), a long-standing reference in the osteology of fetuses, encompasses invaluable information, including measurements of most bones from three lunar months to term.…”