Sex estimation using Magnetic Resonance Imaging measurements of hand and foot in Egyptian population

Abstract

Background The identification of skeletal remains begins with a sex evaluation since other biological profile elements, such as size and age, are sex-specific. The pelvis is the favored element for sex assessment since it is very sexually dimorphic. Aim of the study Delivering hand and foot bones sex estimate criteria for Egyptian population identification was the goal of this work. Subject and methods Eighty-two Egyptian adult subjects (41 males and 41 females) aged ≥ 21 years old were subjected to MRI scan on the right hand and foot to assess 9 measurements: hand length, hand width, four measurements of middle metacarpal bone (length, breadth, head breadth and base breadth), first metatarsal bone length, first metatarsal bone width and (first metatarsal bone length x first metatarsal bone width). Results All the measured parameters in the right hand and foot were higher in males than females. First metatarsal bone length x first metatarsal bone width in the foot and middle metacarpal bone breadth in the hand were the most sexually dimorphic parameters, with accuracy of 86.6 percent and 84.1 percent, respectively. In stepwise discriminant analysis, three of nine measurements were selected: First metatarsal bone length x first metatarsal bone width, middle metacarpal bone breadth and hand width for the sex prediction equation in the Egyptian population, with a cross-validated sex classification accuracy of 90.2%. Conclusion Sex can be assessed from hand and foot metric parameters measured by MRI with high accuracy.