Abstract

Background: Personal Identification with the help of radiographic examination of Skull is a potentially useful method in cases where fragments of skull persist with no likelihood of identification. Frontal sinus Nasal bone, piriform aperture and Nasal septum show racial and geographical variations and their shape can be used as one of the classic indicators of sexual dimorphism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and classify the variations in the pattern of frontal sinus and nasal septum, the dimensions, size and the shape of the piriform aperture and their sexual dimorphism.

Material and methods: Postero-anterior cephalometric radiograph of 180 healthy individuals aged 20-70 years were traced for the morphology of frontal sinus and piriform aperture, pattern of nasal bone, nasal septum pattern using various classification systems. Results: The most predominant pattern of frontal sinus seen in the study sample was the left dominant asymmetry 56.1% and the least predominant was symmetry 3.9%. The mean height of frontal sinus on right side in males was greater than in females and was statistically significant. The most predominant pattern of nasal bone was Type A (56.7%) and least predominant was Type C 2.8%. The most predominant pattern of nasal septum in males and females was found to be straight 62.2% and 63.3% respectively and rare type 1.1%. The proportions of pattern of nasal septum were not statistically different among males and females. The mean height and mean area of the piriform aperture was found to be greater in males as compared to females which was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The frontal sinus, nasal bone, nasal septum and piriform aperture can be useful aids for forensic identification.

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