The ossification of the ischial tuberosity for forensic age diagnostics in conventional radiography

Abstract

Age estimation in living individuals is an area of increasing importance for both radiology and forensic medicine. Owing to a relatively late completion of maturation, the ischial tuberosity can offer a valuable alternative for assessing 18 years of age. However, the ossification of the ischial tuberosity has rarely been investigated with respect to forensic requirements. The aim of the study was to clarify how strong the chronological age relates to the ossification of the ischial tuberosity in the West China Han group. Our results indicated that the ischial tuberosity ossification appears to begin from 15.34 to 16.17 years for males, and from 14.39 to 15.64 years for females. The apophyseal cartilage begins to ossify from 18.50 to 19.17 years for males, and 18.73 to 19.44 years for females, and has fully ossified from 22.93 to 23.30 years for males, and 23.62 to 24.07 years for females. The present study offers a valuable alternative for age estimation.

Keywords:

• forensic age estimation
• pelvic radiography
• ossification stages
• ischial tuberosity

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81373252) and the Applied Basic Research Programs of Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Sichuan Province (No. 2013JY0148).